At 31, Mirabai Chanu rediscovers drive coaching young women weightlifters

The Story in Brief

Saikhom Mirabai Chanu won gold in Glasgow and cried happy tears, a contrast with Paris 2024 when she finished fourth by one kilogram and said it “was not in my destiny.” Her career includes an Olympic silver, three Commonwealth titles and a return from injury, and she first stood on a Glasgow podium as a teenager with a silver in 2014. Around 7,000 kilometres away in Modinagar, 40 girls gathered to watch her 105kg clean and jerk; the cheer that followed was for both coach and champion.

Chanu and national coach Vijay Sharma started the Weightlifting Warriors Academy in Modinagar. The academy trains 40 girls aged eight to 14, many from the North East – about 20 from Assam and about 20 from Manipur – and some from Jammu, Maharashtra and other states. She trains alongside and coaches them, and at the Commonwealth Games she acted as a mentor, helping athletes who speak Manipuri. Her stated next focus is the Asian Games; a 2023 injury affected that campaign, and she is expected to move to 53kg after the Asian Games as part of preparations for Los Angeles 2028.

The Indian Opinion

The reporting focuses on Chanu’s sporting arc and her academy, which offers a clear human-interest angle. Readers should note that emotional scenes and a phrase like “was not in my destiny” reflect a personal reaction and can be framed in ways that overstate fate or drama. The story highlights success and mentorship but provides little information on the academy’s resources, coaching structure beyond Vijay Sharma, or how representative the model is for wider access to weightlifting in India.

An ordinary reader might welcome the emphasis on girls’ participation and community impact, while also recognising uncertainty about long-term outcomes and scalability. Claims about motivation, longevity or national benefit are plausible but not fully documented in the article.

Original article: At 31, Mirabai Chanu finds her drive again in the girls she now trains (IndiaToday)

This story was summarised and commented on by AI from the source linked above.