No medal, but Chanu ticks goal of 200 kg lift

Mirabai Chanu may have not finished on the podium, but she was happy coming fourth in the women’s 49kg class at the World Weightlifting Championships in Pattaya on Thursday.
This is Mirabai Chanu’s second event after recovering from a back injury
This is Mirabai Chanu’s second event after recovering from a back injury

CHENNAI: Mirabai Chanu may have not finished on the podium, but she was happy coming fourth in the women’s 49kg class at the World Weightlifting Championships in Pattaya on Thursday. Chanu, the 2017 world champion in 48kg, was relieved because she had ticked a major goal the national coach and she had agreed on. Breach 200kg.

The 25-year-old lifted 201 kg (87kg in snatch and 114kg in clean & jerk) to set a personal best and a national record. “We are happy with what she’s managed,” national lifting coach Vijay Sharma said. “Coming into the Worlds, our target was going past 200kg. I am happy that she was able to. A medal would have been good, but that wasn’t what we were after.”

Why is the 200kg seen as an important milestone in this class? Considering that not many women has gone beyond this weight in 49kg, it’s seen as a safe weight to be extremely competitive at the Olympics. In fact, the Manipuri had a shot at third till North Korea’s Ri Song Gum raised the bar to 204 kg.
But Sharma isn’t too concerned. “We won’t be losing sleep over both the Chinese lifting more than 210kg. We know Mirabai can do better. Our personal target at the Olympics is 210kg. They are not unbeatable or anything like that.” Another reason why Sharma is bullish about his ward’s prospects is that Tokyo will see only one athlete from each country take part in every weight class.

What is also apparent is that last year’s Commonwealth Games champ is finally over her mysterious back problem that plagued her for much of 2018. “She is as fit as she’s ever been,” said Sharma. The small but significant incremental improvements this year is a testament to that belief. After moving to the 49kg class early this year thanks to the International Weightlifting Federation’s move to change existing categories, she has already logged three personal bests in the four meets she has competed in including the one on Thursday.

The next item on the agenda, according to Sharma, is clearing weights that she failed to lift in Pattaya. “She has never done 89kg (snatch) and 118kg (clean & jerk) even in training. We will try to do that in training before her next meets.” Her next competition is likely to be the Qatar Cup in a couple of months before the Asian Championships in Kazakhstan in April. The clock is ticking.

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