Women weightlifters who brought laurels to the country.
On day 1 of the Commonwealth Games (CWG 2018), world champion weightlifter Mirabai Chanu won a gold in the women's 48 kg category. The 23-year-old weight lifter from Manipur smashed her way to a new personal record as well as the Games record by breaking six records in six lifts to bag the top prize. She had earlier won the silver medal in the women's 48 kg weight class at the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow and a gold medal at World Weightlifting Championships held in the United States in 2017.
Here is a list of 10 other Indian women weightlifters who made India proud by clinching medals at global weightlifting championships:
1. Weightlifter Yumnam Renu Bala Chanu brought laurels to the country by winning the gold medal in the Women's 58 kg category in the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
2. Kavita Devi recently made headlines for wearing a salwar kameez at a WWE match, but before her venture into WWE, Kavita Devi was one of India's top female weightlifters. At the 2016 South Asian Games, she won gold in the 75 kg category.
3. Kunjarani Devi is an early pioneer for Indian women weightlifters. She has more than fifty international medals to her credit. She won a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne for 48 kg women's weightlifting. She was a recipient of the Arjuna Award in 1990 and shared the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award with Leander Paes for the year 1996-1997.
4. Manipur's Laishram Monika Devi won the silver medal in the Women's 69 kg category at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. She was dropped from the 2008 Summer Olympics after the Weighlifting Federation stated that she was tested positive in a dope test. After being cleared of doping charges, Monika Devi competed in the Women's 69 kg category at the 2010 Commonwealth Games where she won a bronze medal.
5. Simple Kaur Bhumrah clinched silver medal in the Women's +75 kg category at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
6. Andhra Pradesh's Karnam Malleswari etched her name in the history by becoming the first woman in the history of Indian Olympics to win a medal. After lifting an incredible 240 kg in the Women's 69 kg category, Karnam Malleswari won a bronze medal at the 2000 Australia Summer Olympics. She is the recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna award and Padma Shri.
7. Santoshi Matsa bagged a silver medal at the Women's-53kg category at the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow. She lifted a total of 188 kg - 83 kg in snatch and 105 in clean and jerk.
8. Geeta Rani won the gold medal in the Women's +75 kg category at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. She also went on to win three silver medals in the Asian Championship in 2004 and a bronze medal in the 2003 Afro-Asian Games held in Hyderabad.
9. Swati Singh won the bronze medal in the Women's 53 kg weight class at the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow. She had originally finished fourth but the gold medal winner Chika Amalaha of Nigeria failed a drug test, elevating Swati Singh to bronze medal position.
10. Uttar Pradesh's Punam Yadav made the country proud by winning bronze in the Women's 63 kg event in Glasgow, Scotland.