Who is Bindyarani Devi?

Weightlifter Bindyarani Devi clinched a silver in the 55kg event at the Commonwealth Games 2022 on Saturday. 

Devi is an Indian weightlifter who was born in Manipur on January 27, 1999.

She is frequently referred to as “Mirabai 2.0” both locally and nationally. Mirabai Chanu is a silver medalist from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

Bindyarani Devi made her international debut in Penang, Malaysia, at the 2016 World Youth Championship. Bindyarani came in 10th place overall in her first major competition.

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Bindyarani Gold rose to prominence after winning India’s first medal of the World Weightlifting Championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Bindyarani Devi took gold in the 54-kg women’s 55-kg Clean & Jerk event. To pull off the heist for her country, the then-22-year-old lifted a total of 198 kilogrammes (with the best being 114 kg).

She won the silver medal at the Commonwealth Championships 2021, qualifying her directly for the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

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The Indian weightlifter won gold in the 55 kg women’s category at the 2021 World Weighlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Since the 1950 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand, weightlifting has been a part of the quadrennial event.

Both the men’s and women’s competitions divide the sport into eight bodyweight divisions.

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The snatch and the clean and jerk are the two lifts that each competitor must perform. The snatch entails using a wide grip to quickly lift the weights above the head. The clean and jerk involves first bringing the weights to your shoulders (clean), then lifting them above your head (jerk).

In both sports, after lifting the weights above the head, the athlete must remain still and under control. The weights cannot be set down until the judges sound a buzzer to confirm that the lift was legitimate.