It’s been five years since weightlifter Mirabai Chanu experienced how the pressure of Olympics can bog you down no matter how much you prepare for it. At the Rio Games, she was not only expected to put up a credible show but also bring home a medal.
However, what played out was nothing short of a disaster. A 21-year-old Chanu could only lift once out of her six attempts in the 48 kg category and became one of the two lifters in a field of 12 to have not finished her event.
Fast forward to April 2021 at the Asian Championships. In the five years since Rio, Chanu has worked upon her shortcomings and is a seasoned campaigner and the clutch of titles she has won are a testament to her incredible progress.
But the memories of Rio were refreshed when she failed her first two attempts in Snatch, an area that has bothered her in the past. But she called upon her mental strength to make her third attempt count and then broke the world record in the Clean and Jerk lifting 119kg to clinch the bronze medal.
This performance alone is a proof how far the 26-year-old has come and the confidence is evident when she declared in April - “I don’t want a silver in the Olympics, I want gold."
It wasn’t just a proclamation. It was a message that Chanu has long shed the weight of past failures and is only looking to the future. And her performances in the past five years serve as an official stamp.
Of the nine major championships that the weightlifter has participated in since the last Olympics, she has claimed the top prize in six events, finished third once and fourth twice.
Chanu’s Achilles’ Heel
In the field, Chanu’s major rivals are the Chinese pair of Hou Zhihui and Jiang Huihua - the two-top ranked weightlifters as per the latest IWF rankings. What further brightens her chances of winning a medal is the fact that Song Gum Ri, a top podium contender, has withdrawn from the event.
But the Chinese are not the only hurdles in her path to glory. While she is a world-beater in clean and jerk, it’s the snatch section that has often proved to be her downfall. Chanu has matched Zhihui, the gold-favourite, in clean and jerk but the Chinese is miles ahead in snatch.
The Indian’s personal best in snatch is 88 kg while for Zhihui it’s 96 kg.
“Our competitors are the lifters from China, USA and Indonesia. We have worked on snatch. But the weights will be decided based on what the others are doing. We don’t want to take unnecessary risks," national coach Vijay Sharma told PTI in a recent interview.
It’s been expected should the push come to shove, Chanu may attempt to better her world record lift of 119 kg in the clean and jerk category, if needed.
Caution is the word. Olympics comes around every four years or as is the case with the current events, in five years.
The last and only Indian to win an Olympic medal in weightlifting remains Karnam Malleswari (Sydney, 2000). A matured Chanu will surely want to change that.
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