Khumukcham Sanjita Chanu (born 2 January 1994) is an Indian weightlifter. Born in Kakching Khunou,

Kakching district ) , settlement_type = District of Manipur , image_map = , map_alt = , map_caption = Location in Manipur , coordinates = , subdivision_ ...

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...

, she is a two time Commonwealth Games Champion. Chanu won the gold medals at the 2014 Glasgow and the 2018 Gold Coast events in the women's 48 kg and 53 kg weight category respectively. She holds the Commonwealth Games record of 84 kg for the Snatch segment in the latter weight category.

Background

She was born to a Hindu Meitei family. Sanjita took up the sport weightlifting in 2006 in Manipur. She considers pioneering weightlifter and fellow Manipuri,

Kunjarani Devi Nameirakpam Kunjarani Devi (born 1 March 1966) is the most decorated Indian sportswoman in weightlifting. Background Devi was born on 1 March 1968 at Kairang Mayai Leikai in Imphal, to a Hindu Meitei family. She started taking interest in s ...

, her hero.

Career

2014 Commonwealth Games

Khumukcham Sanjita Chanu won a gold in women's 48kg weightlifting at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

; it was India's first medal on the second day of the competition. She started with an attempt at 72 kg and later lifted 77 kg, not dropping any weight in snatch. Chanu took an unassailable lead with a 96 kg lift in the clean and jerk event to secure the gold medal with a total weight of 173 kg. Chanu's total of 173 kg missed the Games record (held by the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medal winner Augustina Nkem Nwaokolo) by two kilograms. However, her 77 kg lift in the snatch segment equalled Nwaokolo's Commonwealth Games record.

2018 Commonwealth Games

Chanu won her second successive gold medal at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

in the 2018 edition held in

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

, Australia. She had moved to a higher weight category of 53 kg and secured the title with a total lift of 192 kg, 10 kg more than second-placed

Dika Toua Loa Dika Toua (born 23 June 1984) is a Papua New Guinean Olympian weightlifter. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Women's −49 kg. She competes regularly in the 53 kg weight class. She is a 12 time, and current, Oceania titli ...

. En route to her gold medal, she bettered her performance from

and broke the Games record for the snatch category with a lift of 84 kg; she lifted a weight of 108 kg in the clean and jerk segment.

Doping bans

On 30 May, Chanu was provisionally suspended by the IWF after testing positive for testosterone. In 2020 she was cleared after the charge was dropped. In 2023, she received a four-year ban after testing positive for a banned substance.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chanu, Khumukcham Sanjita Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Living people 1994 births Indian female weightlifters Sportswomen from Manipur Weightlifters at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Weightlifters at the 2014 Asian Games Commonwealth Games medallists in weightlifting 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Weightlifters from Manipur Weightlifters at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Asian Games competitors for India Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Indian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in weightlifting