Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu has won the 2022 BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year award after a public vote.
Chanu becomes the first athlete to win the award twice in a row after winning for the year 2021.
Born in Manipur state, in north-east of India, Chanu learned to weightlift by carrying firewood.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics she became the first Indian to win a silver medal in weightlifting and in 2022 secured gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. She won a silver medal at the World Weightlifting Championships 2022.
Joining the award ceremony through a live link, Chanu thanked everyone who supported her. She said: “I am really excited and want to say that I will be working even harder for the forthcoming games and win more medals for India.”
The other shortlisted contenders for BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year were wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, boxer Nikhat Zareen, and badminton player PV Sindhu.
BBC Para Sportswoman of the Year, a category introduced for the first time went to Bhavina Patel. The para table tennis player won a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, becoming the first Indian table tennis player to achieve this feat. Patel also won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
I am really excited and want to say that I will be working even harder for the forthcoming games and win more medals for India.— Mirabai Chanu
