The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has congratulated weightlifter Mirabai Chanu on winning Team India's first gold medal at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and setting a Games record on Day 2 of the multi-sport event. Chanu, who won silver at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games last year, defended her Commonwealth Games gold from the 2018 edition with a record-breaking total of 201kg (88kg + 113kg) in the 49kg category of women's weightlifting at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham on Saturday.
Her gold took India's Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games medal tally to three, with fellow weightlifters Sanket Sargar and Gururaja Poojary having won a silver and bronze earlier in the day in the men's 55kg and 61kg categories, respectively. Later, Bindyarani Devi won the silver medal in the women's 55kg and sealed the fourth medal for India.
IOA Acting President Anil Khanna: "To be one of the strongest medal prospects and live up to the expectations is not easy, but Mirabai Chanu has done that with excellence and we are very happy to see her and her support system's efforts come to fruition today."
"Better yet, she challenged herself to attempt the 90kg lift. Though the result was not the desired one, Chanu's commitment to pushing the envelope and setting the bar higher as one of India's best athletes is commended by the IOA."
"We congratulate her and the other medallists, Sanket Sargar, Gururaja Poojary, and Bindyarani Devi for performing with excellence in their respective categories," he concluded.
Weightlifter Sanket Sargar opened India's account by winning a Silver medal with a combined lift of 248 kg in the Men's 55 kg final at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Saturday.
Gururaja Poojary won a bronze medal with a combined lift of 269kg in the Men's 61 kg weightlifting final at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Saturday, giving India its second medal.
After Chanu's gold, which was India's third medal, weightlifter Bindyarani Devi added to India's tally by winning a silver medal with a combined lift of 202kg in the Women's 55kg final at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Saturday.
India is currently in the eighth position in the medal tally with four medals.