Mirabai Chanu perfects a flaw to bring home silver medal at Tokyo Olympics

As her country struggles with Covid-19 and flash floods, 26-year-old Mirabai Chanu gave India a chance to revel in the joy and celebrate as she clinched a silver medal in weightlifting in the 49 kg category at the Olympics and opened the country's account on Saturday.

In a clean jerk at the Olympics, Chanu lifted the weight off her chest of her disappointing show at the 2016 Rio Olympics where she had failed to record a legal lift in any of her three attempts.

Also read — Tokyo Olympics 2020: Mirabai Chanu wins silver in Weightlifting 49 kg category

The lone Indian weightlifter to qualify for the Tokyo Games, lifted a total of 202 kg (87 kg+115 kg) to better Karnam Malleswari's bronze in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

"I am very happy, I have been dreaming of this for the past five years. I am very proud of myself right now. I did try for gold but even silver is a great achievement for me," the diminutive iron lady from Manipur told reporters after her career-defining triumph for which she had been training in the US for the past few months.

The 2016 experience was a watershed in her career and Chanu had spoken about how confused she had felt during her debut at the biggest stage. There was none of those nerves to be seen on Saturday, just a very composed and focussed athlete who knew she was destined for the podium.

"I am very happy to win the first medal for India at these Games. I don't just belong to Manipur, I belong to the whole country," she said in response to a query on what it meant for her as a Manipuri. "I would like to thank my coach Vijay Sharma and the support staff for their continuous hard work, motivation and training," she added.

Track live updates of Tokyo Olympics 2020 here

Her smile shone the brightest during the entire performance on Saturday but also hard to miss were the Olympic rings' shaped earrings that she was sporting, which were a gift from her mother. "I would like to thank my family, especially my mother for a lot of sacrifices and believing in me," she said.

The gold went to China's Hou Zhihui with an effort of 210kg (94 kg+116 kg), who created Olympic records in all three categories (snatch, clean and jerk and Total).

This is not the first instance where Chanu made a remarkable comeback. After a dismal show at the Rio Games five years ago, her performance at the world championship in 2017, where she won the gold, and the Commonwealth Games a year later, silenced all her detractors.

What had led to her downfall in the Rio Games -- the clean and jerk -- has now become Chanu's strength. The 26-year-old has consistently improved in the section to stay in contention for medals at top events.

In fact, Chanu currently holds the world record in clean and jerk in the women's 49 kg category. She successfully heaved 119 kg in the Asian Championship, her last tournament ahead of the Tokyo Games, in April to win the gold medal in the section and an overall bronze.

"I've tried many times to beat her. I failed one attempt (on clean & jerk) but I was trying very hard to beat her," Chanu said.