Olympic silver medallist Mirabai Chanu has made a mark at Commonwealth Games 2022, as she won India’s first gold medal in the women’s 49kg weightlifting category yesterday at the ongoing sports event in Birmingham. Aggregating a total of 201kg (88kg+113kg) to stamp her authority in the competition, she achieved a CWG record in the process. Mirabai has become a national icon ever since she became the first Indian weightlifter to win a silver medal in Olympics, after she won in the 49kg category at Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media to wish the gold medalist.
With so many achievements in just one year, Mirabai has definitely garnered a lot of attention. And what most of us have been wondering about is her diet and fitness routine. Isn’t it? After all, one just does not become the first Indian weightlifter to win a silver medal in the Olympics, just like that. So, if your interest regarding Mirabai’s diet too has piqued, we’ve got some diet and fitness secrets from the weightlifter for you.
1. Maintains body weight
After winning at the Tokyo Olympics, Mirabai in an interview to NDTV revealed that she always has to keep her weight ½ or 1kg more than the designated weight. “We need to strictly control our diet to maintain weight for this category,” she said, adding that she can’t eat junk food and the diet is limited to peas and meat, etc.
2. Eats wholesome meals
According to one of her coaches, AP Dathan - who takes care of Mirabai’s diet, and has been with her for five years - a special schedule has been set for Mirabai’s diet from morning to night. He reveals that it starts from breakfast itself, where the champion has an egg, two slices of bread and five varieties of fruits, including avocado. There is fish for lunch and salmon, tuna and pork belly, which are especially brought from Norway for her. “Mira eats a mere 100-150 grams of these items,” he added.
3. A pizza lover
Although Mirabai might be following a strict diet that doesn’t change the fact that she is indeed a foodie. Last year, after her win at the Tokyo Olympics, one thing that Mirabai revealed was that she would finally eat a pizza once back home. This eventually led a popular pizza chain to offer to provide her free pizza for life. Sharing her excitement about the lifetime free pizza offer, the weightlifter has also said in an interview how pizza has been her favourite dish for a long time. “I used to like pizza a lot. Whenever I felt like eating junk food, I would order pizza and eat it.”