December 8th, 2022: World Weightlifting Championship took place in Bogota, Colombia this year.
India’s weightlifting icon Saikhom Mirabai Chanu bagged a silver medal in the World Weightlifting Championship which was held in Bogota, Colombia.
The championship was earlier scheduled to be held in Chongqing, China but later it was shifted to Colombia due to Covid-19 precautions.
She lifted an overall weight of 200 kgs, 87 kg in snatch (Snatch is a powerlifting movement where an individual has to lift the barbell from the ground to over his head in a single motion) and 113 kg in Clean and Jerk (Clean and jerk is also a powerlifting movement where one has to lift the barbell from the ground, rack it on his front part of the shoulder and then use arm strength to push the barbell over his head)
Jiang Huihua from China won the gold medal with an overall weight of 206 kgs and Hou Zhizhui with an overall weight of 198 kgs.
Mirabai Chanu said, “Extremely humbled and grateful for this victory. Small step towards our eventual goal of an Olympic gold.Gratitude to my Coach Vijay sir, our President IWLF Sahdev Yadav sir, Sports Authority of India, all the stakeholders and well wishers. Will always make you proud.” In the tournament, Chanu failed her first attempt in Clean and jerk but eventually lifted 111 kg in her second go. She succeeded in lifting 113 kgs in her third attempt.
This medal is Mirabai's second achievement in the Worlds. She won her first medal in 2017’s Championship, where she bagged a gold. “It's an emotionally proud moment for me to bring another world championship medal back home after five long years,” Mirabai said.
India’s head coach Vijay Sharma said Mirabai lifts these weights regularly, after this achievement, she will start increasing weights and focus on improving.