Mirabai Chanu’s Extreme Sacrifice for CWG Glory: She had not eaten or drunk water for days to make weight for the Commonwealth Games. The 31-year-old from Manipur won her third straight Commonwealth Games gold medal in the women’s 49kg weightlifting event in Glasgow on Sunday, setting new Commonwealth and Commonwealth Games records. She lifted 85kg in the snatch and 105kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 190kg, breaking records in the snatch and clean and jerk.
After receiving her medal, Mirabai stood on the podium with tears as the national anthem played, wearing tricolour ribbons in her hair. She told reporters, Please do this quickly, I haven’t eaten in 2 days. The Tokyo Olympics silver medallist later became emotional discussing support from her mother and coach Vijay Sharma, saying, They have supported me through thick and thin. I was under a lot of pressure, so happy to win third gold for India.
Mirabai’s Extreme Sacrifice for CWG Glory involved managing her weight despite her natural weight being 50.5kg for the 48kg category. She explained, Managing my weight is extremely difficult. For any athlete, controlling body weight takes an immense struggle. To make weight this time, I had to stop everything. I couldn’t eat food and haven’t drunk water for three days. She missed her first snatch and clean and jerk attempts but succeeded on her second tries.
Nigeria’s Ruth Asuquo Nyong finished second with 168kg, 22kg behind Mirabai. With the gold secured, Mirabai skipped her third clean and jerk attempt to avoid strain ahead of the Asian Games in less than two months. The champion said, I was not going to put too much effort in these Games but I failed my first attempt. Coach and I had thought I would do two lifts each. Mirabai’s Extreme Sacrifice for CWG Glory shows the tremendous dedication required for international sports success.