Manipur duo Mirabai, Rishikanta light up Glasgow, golden hattrick for Chanu

Mirabai Chanu, a silver medallist in Tokyo 2020, has once again showed that the Commonwealth Games remain her favourite playground. The 31-year-old ace from Manipur may not have exerted herself with the 90 kg snatch — so as to preserve herself for the Asian Games — but still ensured a hattrick of CWG gold medals with a games record after successfully lifting 85 kg during the women’s 48 kg weightlifting final on day 4 in Glasgow.

The third gold marked a remarkable sequence of back-to-back triumphs for the golden girl of Indian weightlifting after Birmingham 2022 and Australia's Gold Coast 2018 (both 49 kg). She now carries a major morale booster as she heads to Aichi Nagoya for an elusive Asiad gold.

After failing to lift 82 kg on her first attempt, the lifting diva from Manipur got the job done the second time before smashing the games record on her final attempt.

It was a day for Manipur lifters on the range after Chanambam Rishikanta Singh bagged silver in the men’s 60 kg event earlier, finishing with a combined total of 264 kg (121 kg snatch & 143 kg clean and jerk). 

Speaking after his record-breaking show, Rishikanta told IANS: ‘’I fought very hard and today I won a silver medal. I am very happy. This medal that I won today isn’t mine: it belongs to everyone, to all of India. To everyone who supported — the Indian government, the Indian Weightlifting Federation, the supporting staff and my circle of friends... this is for everyone."

Rishikanta clinched the silver behind Malaysia’s Bin Kasdan Mohamad Aniq, who ended with 273 kg. Kenya’s Joshua Amunga Mboya completed the podium with 260 kg. The Indian started his campaign with a games record after successfully making two lifts of 116 kg and 119 kg, and successfully managed to lift 121 kg after facing immense pressure on his final snatch attempt. His spectacular lift broke the 120 kg mark and briefly set him ahead of Aniq before the latter matched the mark.

Rishikanta remained thankful his guru Vijay Sharma, a Dronacharya awardee. ‘’I take my guru’s name, Vijay Sharma, under whom I train, the Indian chief coach. He taught us a lot about how to compete and how to train. I had no doubts about my training.’’