Imphal, March 7: Adding yet another feather, Commonwealth champion and weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu has bagged the 2022 ‘BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year’ award after a public vote.
The 28-year-old from Manipur’s Imphal East became the first athlete to win the award twice in a row. Earlier, Mirabai won the BBC ISWOTY in 2021.
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Expressing her happiness, Mirabai said “Elated if win the BBC Sportswoman of the Year Award two times in a row. Thank you BBC Undia for recognizing the #WomenInSports and honouring me and my fellow athletes.”
The other shortlisted nominations for the award were wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, boxer Nikhat Zairean and badminton player PV Sindhu.
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At the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Mirabai, who learned to weightlift by carrying firewood, became the first Indian to win a silver medal in weightlifting. Later in 2022, she secured gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in the United Kingdom. The same year, she won a silver medal at the World Weightlifting Championships.
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