‘I was only competing with myself’: Mirabai Chanu reacts after clinching India’s 1st gold at CWG 2022

India’s weightlifting star Mirabai Chanu lived up to her favourite tag at the Commonwealth Games 2022 as she clinched an elusive gold medal in the women’s 49kg category on Saturday (July 30). Chanu bagged India’s first gold medal at the mega event after dominating the proceedings in the 49kg final. She lifted a record 201 kg overall to set a Games record and successfully defend her title.

The Tokyo Olympics silver medallist had won the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia and was one of the favourites to win the title once again this year. She came up with a flawless display in the final by lifting a record 88kg in the snatch round before lifting 113 kg in the clean and jerk round to finish on top of the podium.

Her 88 kg lift in the snatch was also Chanu’s personal best and was 12 kg more than her nearest rival in the snatch round at the final on Saturday. The 27-year-old was in a league of her own as she completely dominated the event on her way to gold.

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Reacting after her fabulous lop-sided victory, Chanu said she felt her competition was not against her opponents in the final but herself. The Indian star weightlifter also stated how Commonwealth Games has been easy for her and she wanted to match her personal best at the event which she successfully managed to pull off.

“It was not a competition against the other opponents, and I was only competing with myself and did not have to fight much. Everybody knows that the Commonwealth Games is easy for me but I wanted to give it my personal best,” Chanu told India Today after clinching gold at the CWG 2022.

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Chanu had gone for a 90 kg lift in her third attempt during the snatch round on Saturday but failed to pull it off. The Indian weightlifter revealed she has been able to lift 90 kg during training but it didn’t come off on Saturday. However, the newly-crowed gold medallist said she was happy with her effort at the Games this year.

“My target in this competition was to better my ‘snatch’ game, since it is a weak point of mine. So, after we came back from Tokyo, we worked a lot on it. I am very happy that I was able to touch 88kgs. I have touched 90 in practice, but it did not happen today. However, I am very happy with my performance,” said Chanu.