CHENNAI: Ace weightlifter Mirabai Chanu's first competition in the new weight category ended prematurely as she was forced to withdraw from the ongoing IWF World Championships in Ningbo, China due to a back issue on Thursday. The Manipuri lifter was scheduled to compete in the 53kg weight category in Group B.
Before Thursday, the former world champion and Tokyo Olympic silver medallist had competed in 48kg and 49kg throughout her career. With the international body (IWF) revising the Olympic weight categories for the 2028 Games, Mirabai, who recently won a silver medal at the 2026 Asian Games, moved up to 53kg.
Meanwhile, her compatriot Gyaneshwari Yadav finished eighth in the 53kg. She registered herself in the Group C and heaved a total of 198kg (88kg+110kg) to top the group. She eventually finished ahead of several lifters competing in the B as well as A categories.
As per the entry list, Mirabai Chanu has entered herself in the Group B, a deviation from the past where she had competed in the A Group. Before the current edition, Mirabai was placed in Group D in the 2023 edition of the Worlds as she only weighed in to fulfill the mandatory participation criteria for Paris 2024 Olympic qualification without actually lifting. The 32-year-old Tokyo Olympics silver medallist was then prioritizing the Asian Games held shortly after the Worlds.
In Worlds, lifters from the same weight category are divided into separate groups (A, B, C and D) based on entry totals (combined weight they plan to lift in snatch and clean and jerk sections) submitted by them. Mostly, top competitors compete in Group A but even a participant from other groups can win a medal based on his/her overall lift. The Worlds is one of the six events in period 1 of the Olympic Qualification System approved by the executive board of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) early this year for the 2028 LA Games. Period 2 has four events.
