Dope-tainted weightlifter Sanamacha Chanu faces a life ban after her 'B' sample test, conducted by the National Anti-Doping Agency, also turned out positive for a banned stimulant. The 'A' sample of 31-year-old Chanu, one of the most successful woman weightlifters in the country, which was taken during the trials for the Commonwealth Games in August had tested positive for methylhexaneamine.
Indian weightlifter Sathish Sivalingam broke a Commonwealth Games record in his debut Games, en route to a gold medal in the men's 77kg event in Glasgow on Sunday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said India has come a long way on the front of transparency in national selection of athletes and that has been key to country's success at the multi-sporting events.
The postponement of the Tokyo Games and a break in training due to the COVID-19 lockdown last year brought with it a shoulder issue for the weightlifter that could have led to a completely different result, something Chanu had been worried about.
Eight gold medals are up for grabs on Monday, the first day of the Delhi Commonwealth Games, with swimming offering five, weightlifting two and gymnastics one. The first gold medal will be decided in the weightlifting women event in 48kg category, scheduled to begin at 1400 IST.
As we celebrate International Women's day on March 8, meet the Indian sportswomen who have made the nation proud with their superlative performances in the sporting arena.
Born to a poor family in Nongpok Kakching village about 20 kilometres from the capital Imphal, the youngest among six siblings, Mirabai would go to collect firewood from a nearby hill with her brother Saikhom Sanatomba Meitei, who is four years her elder.
India held on to sixth place in the medals tally
Save Women's Sport Australasia, a group opposed to transgender women competing in women's sports, said Hubbard's selection was allowed by "flawed policy from the IOC".
After the high of the Tokyo Games, India's Olympic silver medallist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu has turned her focus on winning a second world championship title and is ironing out the chinks in her armour ahead of the event.
"There is very less time between the Asian Games and the World Championships. Since there is compulsory participation at the World Championships, we have decided that Mirabai only travel to Riyadh and give the body weight.
Olympic silver medallist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu will miss the World Championship and the Commonwealth Senior Championship slated to take place simultaneously between December 7 to 17 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Organisers have urged athletes in Australia for the Commonwealth Games to respect the terms of their entry visas after Cameroon reported that a third of their team had gone missing on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) wrote to the sports ministry to comply with the High Court order.
Here's a look at Indian athletes' performance on Monday, Day 4 of the Games.
India's top-five finish not a given this time
The former world champion ended with a total lift of 201kg (88kg+113kg), which is far from her personal best.
Facts on the Commonwealth Games to be held in Australia's Gold Coast:
The Indian weightlifting juggernaut continued at the Commonwealth Games, with Sanjita Chanu and Deepak Lather adding a gold and bronze to the team's tally, and the shuttlers and boxers staying unbeaten on the second day, in Gold Coast, on Friday.
Embarrassment piled on India on Wednesday barely a month ahead of the Commonwealth Games with four athletes, including three in Games squad, failing their 'B' sample tests while a weightlifter was also caught for a banned substance in New Delhi.
Sanjita Chanu will be conferred with the Arjuna award as per a 2018 Delhi High Court order, which directed the selection committee to consider her and keep the decision in a sealed cover to be disclosed only if she was absolved of the doping charges.
On winning his third CWG medal on Tuesday, Vikas Thakur paid tribute to his idol by doing the 'thigh-five' celebration. 'The Punjabi thapi (thigh-five) was tribute to Sidhu Moose Wala.'
Modi on Saturday hosted the Indian contingent at his residence to felicitate the players in New Delhi.
Augustina Nkem Nwaokolo of Nigeria stormed her way to the first gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, with a record mark in the women's weightlifting event at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Sports Complex, in New Delhi, on Monday.
Indian weightlifting had two contrasting medallists to celebrate on Day 2 of the Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast, on Friday.
'I am happy to win the silver medal, but, at the same time, I feel very sad for my coach, Harnam Singh, who always believed that I would win the gold medal at the Delhi Games,' said weightlifter Soniya Chanu.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Katulu Ravi Kumar and N Soniya Chanu will represent India in the weightlifting competition at the London Olympics.
Augustina Nkem Nwaoko of Nigeria stormed her way to the first gold medal of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, with a record mark in the women's weightlifting event.
Bindyarani Devi had a total effort of 194kg (83kg+111kg) in the non-Olympic 55kg category.
Defending champion Sathish Sivalingam (77kg) claimed India's third gold medal at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday, emerging triumphant despite having given up podium hopes after his injured thighs made even routine things like sitting painful.
IOA president P T Usha on Sunday slammed the revolting executive council members, saying they 'seem more focused on self-serving power play and monetary gain'
Saikhom Mirabai Chanu will have an outside chance of a podium finish for India when the weightlifter begins her campaign in the women's 48kg category at the Rio Olympic Games on Saturday.
The haul of 64 medals at the Commonwealth Games, in July-August, which included 15 gold, should act as the ideal springboard for the Indian contingent to better its medal tally at Guangzhou, China, four years ago.
Hit by a needle controversy but in high spirits nonetheless, the jumbo Indian contingent would be aiming to make it all good with strong medal-winning performances.
The Australian weightlifter said his bicep had fallen down to his elbow only a week before the Gold Coast competition and he felt a 'click' when trying to lift 168kg on the clean and jerk.
Newly-crowned weightlifting world champion Saikhom Mirabai Chanu says she thought of quitting the sport after receiving flak for her failure to win a medal at the Rio Olympics.
The ban prevents India from taking part in the weightlifting competition at December's Asian Games.
Sateesha Rai, who was stripped of a medal at the Manchester Commonwealth Games after testing positive, is in the team for the Melbourne Games.
India got one more medal in the women's 53kg weightlifting when Swati Singh was handed the bronze and Matsha Santoshi upgraded to silver after 16-year-old Nigerian gold winner Chika Amalaha tested positive for a banned substance at the Commonwealth Games, on Wednesday.
The Commonwealth Games gold medallist wrestler's journey started in 2005 from a little known tehsil in Beed district called Patoda.
