India’s 1st Medal At Tokyo Olympics- Silver – Free PDF Download

What has happened?

• India’s star weightlifter Mirabai Chanu created history on Saturday as she overcame her Rio heartbreak to become the first Indian weightlifter to win the silver medal at the Olympic Games.
• Chanu also became the first Indian to win an Olympic medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games in the Women’s 49kg category.
• China’s Zhihui Hou won the gold medal in the women’s 49-kg weightlifting at the Tokyo Olympics, lifting a total of 210 kg, while Indonesia’s Windy Cantika Aisah won the bronze medal.

Rules of weightlifting

• There are two stages in modern Olympic weightlifting – the ‘snatch’ and the ‘clean and jerk’.
• The snatch is where the weightlifter picks up the barbell and lifts it above his head in one singular motion.
• In the clean and jerk, the weightlifter is first required to pick up the barbell and bring it up to his chest (clean).
• The lifter must then pause and extend his arms and legs to lift it above the head (jerk) with a straight elbow and have to hold it there until a buzzer is sounded.

• A weightlifter is given three snatch attempts and three clean and jerk attempts each.
• A weightlifter’s best attempt at snatch and the clean and jerk are then added up and the one with the highest combined weight lifted is declared the winner.
• In case two participants have lifted the same combined weight, then the one with the lower bodyweight is declared the winner.
• In the event of the bodyweight also being equal, the one with lesser attempts will be the winner.

Chanu’s perormance

• Chanu lifted 84kg and 87kg successfully but failed to lift 89kg as she was placed in the second spot after snatch while China’s HOU Zhihu lifted 94kg to create an Olympic record.
• Mirabai Chanu equaled her personal best in a snatch of 87kg.
• She lifted 87kg in Snatch when she won the gold medal at the World Championships in 2017.

• The lone Indian weightlifter in Tokyo roared back to form with world championships gold in 2017 and Commonwealth Games gold in 2018.
• Mirabai has the world record of 119kg in clean and jerk at the 2021 Asian Weightlifting Championships.

2^nd Olympic medal in Weightlifting

• Chanu is the second weightlifter after Karnam Malleswari (who won bronze in the 2000 Sydney Olympics) to win an Olympics medal for India.

Q) At which of the following Olympic Games was the Olympic flag flown for the 1^st time?

1. 1900, Paris
2. 1908, London
3. 1920, Antwerp
4. 1928, Amsterdam

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