Sanamacha Chanu’s words, “Our Teacher always Spoke to us about leading Female Sportspersons in the Country"

Sanamacha Chanu is an Indian weightlifter who competed in the women's 53 kg weight class at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Born on February 1, 1975 - Sanamacha Chanu is one of the best weightlifters of the country and has been awarded the Arjuna award in the year 2000. The 47-year-old weightlifter hails from Imphal in Manipur state.

 

Sanamacha Thingbaijam Chanu is an Indian weightlifter born on February 1, 1975. She has been awarded the Arjuna award in the year 2000. The 47-year-old weightlifter hails from Imphal in Manipur state. She is the 6th child of her parents who have eight children including her. Sanamacha Chanu speaks about her life journey and how she had started her career in weightlifting.

 

Sanamacha Thingbaijam Chanu

Sanamacha Chanu had interest in sports at a very young age. The start of the weightlifting career in her life was in 1992, when she was 14 years old. She had a very supportive teacher during those times, who have played a very important role in taking her weightlifting career to greater heights. In Sanamacha Chanu’s words, “Our teacher always spoke to us about leading female sportspersons in the country. This had encouraged us to excel in the sports activities that we were interested in. She had always done this to make us more confident and enthusiastic about the sports activities”.

Her teacher was the one who spoke to her about Kunjarani Devi. This was how she learnt about how Kunjarani Devi had made India proud in the international arena. “I was inspired by her story and had then made a strong decision that I also wanted to be a great sportsperson just like her and make India proud. I also spoke to my teacher about this and thus she started helping me”, Chanu says.

 

According to Sanamacha Chanu, her parents have given everything in their life for the betterment of their children. But she also acknowledges that her family was not so happy when she said about her interest in weightlifting in her home. They were of the opinion that it was not the game for women. They did not want women in their house to pursue a career that usually men do. Sanamacha Chanu was so determined that she wanted to bring out a change in the so-called men dominated career, which she set out to do. This was her first step towards building up her own space in the weightlifting journey.

 

One day she was informed by a person in her village that the Sports Authority of India is conducting a competition in Manipur. But her family was not interested in letting her participate. So, she participated without the consent of her family and won the competition. When they came to know about her victory, they were also happy and gradually started accepting her interests.

 

Sanamacha Thingbaijam Chanu worked so hard to make her dreams come true. She had left her village and went to Patiala, Punjab to pursue her dreams. Being alone and enduring sufferings had never weakened the determination of Thingbaijam Chanu. Her hardship finally paid off when she became a national champion. She had won three golds at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. She also competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics. She had also added several international and national laurels to her account and was bestowed with the Arjuna Award in the year 2000.