Mirabai Chanu was born and brought up in Manipur, India. She is the sixth and the youngest child in her family. Mirabai Chanus Birthplace.Her ideal is Kunjarani Devi. In an interview, she told that When I was a kid, I first saw Kunjarani Devi, the sport looked so appealing, I was baffled at how she was lifting such heavyweights. So I told my parents that I wanted to do this, with much reluctance they agreed. In our state, you can compare Kunjarani to weightlifting and Sania Mirza is to tennis. Every Manipuri girl wanted to be like her. I saw Kunjarani Devis performance at the 2004 Olympics and dreamt of podium glory. Mirabai Chanus inspiration Kunjarani Devi.She started weightlifting in 2008 at Khuman Lampak Sports Complex in Imphal, India. During her childhood days, there was no weightlifting centre in her village. So, for her training, she had to travel 44 km daily. She also stated that The coaches would give us diet charts in which chicken and milk were an essential part. But, due to her family condition, she couldnt afford it every day..She won the first ever competitive gold medal of her career at the age of 11 in a local weightlifting contest.Her actual weightlifting journey began in 2011 when she participated at the 2011 International Youth Championship and at the South Asian Junior Games. She won the gold medals in these games.In 2013, she participated at the Junior National Championship in Guwahati, India. There, she was awarded the Best Lifter Award.In 2014, she represented India at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow (a city in Scotland). Here, she clinched a Silver Medal in the womens 48 kg category by lifting a total of 170 kg.On 31 August 2015, she was appointed as a Senior Ticket Collector in the Indian Railway.In 2016, she qualified for the Rio Olympics in womens 48 kg category. Unfortunately, she didnt finish her event and failed in winning any medal. In an interview, she said that I was really low after the Olympics. It took me a lot of time to get over the disappointment. I even thought of giving up the sport and stop training. The comments in social media, the criticism against my coach really hurt me..In 2017, she got selected for the World Weightlifting Championships held at Anaheim, CA, the United States in the womens 48 kg category. She lifted 194 kg in total (85 kg snatch and 109 kg clean & jerk) and brought a Gold Medal for India after 22 years; since 1995. Before her, Karnam Malleswari had won two Gold Medals at the World Weightlifting Championships in 1994 and 1995.