President Kovind congratulates Chanu on clinching World Weightlifting C'ship gold

President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday congratulated weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, who became the first Indian woman in over two decades to clinch gold at the 2017 World Weightlifting Championship in Anaheim, USA.

Taking to Twitter, President Kovind said that India was extremely proud of Chanu, and congratulated Manipur for producing such wonderful sportspersons.

"Congratulations Mirabai Chanu for winning a gold medal in the World Weightlifting Championship. India is so proud of you.And congratulations Manipur for giving the country such a wonderful series of champion sportswomen!" President Kovind wrote.

The weightlifter from Manipur ended India's 22-year-long wait for a World Championship gold by creating a new world record of 194-kg - lifting 85-kg snatch and 109-kg in clean-and-jerk.

With the win, Chanu also became only the second Indian weightlifter ever to have won the gold medal in the World Championship. It was also India's first gold in the tournament.

Sydney Olympics bronze-medallist Karnam Malleswari is the only other lifter to have achieved that feat. She won the gold in the 1994 and 1995 edition in the 54-kg category.

Meanwhile, Chanu, who displayed a mediocre performance at the Rio Olympics, qualified for Commonwealth Games (2018) after winning a gold at the Commonwealth Senior (men and women) weightlifting championships held at Gold Coast, Australia.

En route to the victory, she also broke the Commonwealth record in snatch event by lifting 85-kg and bettered her own record by one kilogram.