CHENNAI: Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu returned to competitive weightlifting after more than a year and as was expected, she clinched the gold medal in the 48kg at the Commonwealth Championships in Ahmedabad on Monday. En route to her gold, she also set new Commonwealth Championships records in snatch (84kg), clean and jerk (109kg) and total (193kg).
The six lift attempts and her overall return to the lifting platform since the 2024 Paris Olympics, however, were far from a smooth ride. She faltered in her opening snatch attempt of 84kg. She cleared it in the next attempt but could not lift 89kg in her third and last snatch attempt. With the snatch section not her forte, the 31-year-old 2017 world champion was expected to improve her performance in the clean and jerk. She opened up with a 105kg lift and bettered it to 109kg in the next attempt. She tried for 113kg in her final attempt but couldn't heave it.
Despite the struggles where she succeeded in only three attempts out of total six, she was way ahead of her competitors. Her closest rival, Irene Henry of Malaysia, who lifted 161kg (73kg+88kg), won the silver medal while Wales' Nikole Roberts with an overall lift of 150kg (70kg+80kg) took home the bronze. Given the field, Mirabai, who finished fourth at the Paris Games, was literally competing with herself. But that would not be the case when she competes at the 2025 World Championships scheduled at Forde, Norway from October 2 to 11.
To give some context to her performance, Mirabai lifted 199kg (88+111) at the Paris Games in the 49kg and missed out on a bronze medal by just 1kg. With the International Weightlifting Federation revising the weight categories, Mirabai had to switch to 48kg, the division she used to compete till 2018.
It was in the same weight category, she won a gold medal at the 2017 World Championships. She also finished at top in the same division at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. But the weights she lifted in both events were better than her present showing. In the Worlds, she lifted 194kg (85+109) — one kilograms more than her current performance. At the 2018 CWG, she heaved a total weight of 196kg (86+110) — again three kilograms more than her lift in Ahmedabad.
Weightlifting head coach Vijay Sharma, however, believed the tournament was just a test event for Mirabai as she has changed her weight category and returned to competitive lifting after more than a year. "It's a test event. We were just checking how much she can lift," Sharma responded when asked how satisfied he was with his ward's performance.
With snatch lift perennially troubling Mirabai, the coach said the best lift of 84kg in the event was a good beginning. Mirabai's personal best and national record in snatch is 88kg and Sharma hoped they could breach the same at the upcoming Worlds. "We have at least four weeks for the Worlds. Now we know what to do and how to go about it. Hopefully, we can better her personal best of 88kg in the snatch section in the Worlds."
Mirabai created world record in the clean and jerk section during the 2020 Asian Championships by lifting 119kg. The record was shattered later but it remains the best for the Indian lifter. The coach wanted to be realistic and said they are targetting overall lift of 200 or above. "119kg in C&J is not our target. The target is 200 or above in the overall lift. If she can lift 88kg or 89kg in snatch then the target can be achieved by heaving 112kg or 111kg in the C&J section. The training programme will be designed accordingly for the Worlds," Sharma added.
Mirabai won a gold and a silver in 49kg at the 2022 CWG and 2022 Worlds respectively. She lifted 201kg (88+113) in the first event and 200kg (87+113) in the next. That will be her target albeit in a new weight category when she takes the platform at the Worlds in October.
Personal best and national record (49kg)
Snatch: 88kg
Clean & jerk: 119kg
Total: 205kg
48kg
Gold in 2017 Worlds: 194=85+109
Gold in 2018 CWG: 196=86+110
199kg she lifted in her last competitive outing during the 2024 Paris Games. She lifted 88kg in snatch and 111kg in C&J
