Commonwealth Games 2022: Sindhu to Chanu, a look at India's medal hopes

Indian athletes vouch for ability of Commonwealth Games to change lives, even as its legacy struggles to find relevance

“The first medal is always a special one,” she says, “Peo­ple remember. And even if they don’t, I do. And evidently, you do too.” With that final sentence N Soniya Cha­nu laughs heartily. The re­c­ords prove this. On Oct­ober 4, 2010, (a date she rem­em­bers clearly) at the Jawa­har­lal Nehru Stadium Soniya won silver in the 48kg weigh­t­lifting event. Through purely scheduling luck, she bec­ame the first Indian to win a medal at their home Games.

“It would be presumptuous of me to say that my medal changed weightlifting in my state,” Soniya humbly says, “but it changed my life.”