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Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu targets the missing medal in her trophy cabinet

Chanu opens up on why winning an Asian Games medal would mean the world to her, her love for Lata Mangeshkar songs, and the plans to open an academy for weightlifters in Manipur

Coffee with BS: Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, Weightlifter, Olympian
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Coffee with BS: Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, Weightlifter, Olympian

Vishal Menon

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Standing 4 feet, 11 inches tall, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu is a colossus. The undisputed poster girl of weightlifting, and an embodiment of grit and humility, she has lifted the hopes of a nation at the Olympic stage.
 
Her strength goes far beyond the kilograms lifted and the medals won — to the manner in which she has shattered gender stereotypes, overcome injuries, and inspired a generation of upcoming athletes.
 
On a sweltering afternoon, I meet Chanu at the Weightlifting Warriors academy in Sadabad Jakhaiva, a village in Modinagar, Uttar Pradesh, just an hour’s drive from New Delhi.
 
The academy’s polished