On Wednesday, August 7, India’s Mirabai Chanu was unable to duplicate her exploits from the Tokyo Olympics. With a total lift of 199 kg, the Tokyo silver medallist placed fourth in the women’s 49 kg weightlifting competition in Paris. Chanu joins a distinguished group of Indian athletes, including Manu Bhaker, Arjun Babuta, and Lakshya Sen, who have all placed fourth in Paris.
Mirabai made a great start at the South Paris Arena, breaking her own record in the snatch stage, but she was unable to get close to her best in the clean and jerk. On Wednesday, Chanu fell 8 kg shy of her personal best lift of 207. China’s Hou Zhihui, the Tokyo bronze medallist, secured the gold with an exciting last-minute lift in the competitive field. Valentina Cambei from Romania and Surodchana Khambao from Thailand came in second and third, respectively.
Mirabai started the competition with a bang, setting a new personal best in the snatch lift of 85 and 88 kg. Throughout her career, Mirabai has struggled with stealth, but she made a bold move and separated herself from the competition.
Mirabai ended up tied for third place in the snatch event. Athletes ahead of her were Cambei from Romania and Hou from China, who lifted 89 and 93 kg, respectively. Mirabai and Surodchana Khambao of Thailand were tied for third place.
Chanu, who holds a world record of 119 kgs in the clean and jerk, started the second phase of the event with the biggest first attempt in the field. She registered her attempt at 111 kgs but failed to lift the weight. She managed to complete the clean, but failed to lift the bar over her head in the jerk.
The commentators reminded the viewers of the injury concerns that Mirabai had in recent times and said that it had been a while since she had lifted these kinds of weights.
Mirabai pressed on in her second attempt and successfully lifted 111 kgs to put her back in third place with a total lift of 199 kgs (88 snatch + 111 clean and jerk). The Indian was bested by Romanian Valentina (110), Hou (110) and Khambao (112) in the second attempt and fell behind the medal positions.
Mirabai tried a desperate attempt of 114 kgs as her final attempt in clean and jerk but was not able to lift the bar.
A number of injuries had plagued Mirabai Chanu prior to the Olympics in Paris. She sustained a serious injury in 2022 during a training session that involved injuries to her wrist, shoulder, and rotator cuff. She called this the worst injury of her professional life.
Her series of setbacks was further exacerbated by a hip problem that she sustained more recently. Her training regimen and competition performances have been greatly hampered by these ailments. She only participated in two competitions in 2023, achieving four successful lifts out of a possible twelve, and picking up more injuries in the process.
Her most severe injury happened during the Asian Games when she attempted a 117 kg clean and jerk lift and landed on her back. This led to an injury layoff that lasted six months. This injury was particularly significant as it prevented her from securing an Asian Games medal, a top-line honour missing from her collection.
