New Delhi: tokyo olympics Silver Medalists Mirabai Chanu She believes that ‘even the best preparations can fail’ but she insists that her success paris The game will depend on how well she is able to keep herself injury-free and improve her technical nuances.
Paris 2024 will be Mirabai’s third Olympics. After a poor start at Rio 2016, the 30-year-old Manipuri made an impressive comeback with stellar performances at global competitions.She became the first weightlifter in 22 years to become a world champion in 2017. Won gold at CWG 2018 in Gold Coast and after missing out on a medal at the 2019 World Championships, the diminutive weightlifter created history at the 2020 Asian Championships in China. In clean and jerk, Mirabai lifted 119 kg in Ningbo, a world record. Then the biggest achievement of her career was securing a silver medal at the Tokyo Games. And now she is one medal away from becoming the first. Indian weightlifter For winning two Olympic medals.
She will lead the country’s challenge in the women’s 49kg category, which, according to her, will be a tough one as “the competition is going to be very tough this time”. For Mirabai, the only Indian weightlifter to qualify for the Games, the time from now till August 7 – the day the Olympic qualifiers take place – will be very difficult. Weight Lifting The competition – which will start in Paris – will be dedicated to “managing all the muscles in my body” and “improving my technique to lift at least 90 kilograms in the snatch”.
Mirabai has a personal best of 88 kg in snatch, which helped her lift a total of 201 kg at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, including 113 kg in clean and jerk. With Paris looming, Mirabai has been very cautious about her competitions this year. In 2024, she participated in only one competition – the World Cup – and finished 12th with a lift of 184 kg. However, it was enough to make it to Paris.
“After Asian Games “The World Cup was my first competition despite the injury. I was definitely afraid of getting another injury. I didn’t want to ruin my chance in Paris. So, yes, there was a fear of injury. For me, injury management and staying stress-free will be important. I have to do things that will help me recover. Injuries and pain are our companions. You never know when they will strike. We have to overcome them and Paris will tell me how well I have managed these aspects of the game,” Mirabai told SAI Media at the NIS Patiala Centre.
Injuries have been Mirabai’s constant companion. After winning a historic silver medal in Tokyo, she has suffered multiple injuries. A hip injury at the Hangzhou Asian Games kept her out of action for five months. Managing injuries with her trusted American physio Dr Aaron Horschig and coach Vijay SharmaIt has been his biggest challenge.
Mirabai and her team will leave for La Ferté-Milan in France in the first week of July and will have about a month to “acclimatise” before the Summer Games. She says there is a direct relationship between fitness and technique and every muscle has a role to play in lifting weights.
She said, “Weightlifting is the sum of many parts. A lot of exercises have to be done in the gym as every part of the body plays its role. Certain muscles like the back, knees and shoulders need to be in perfect condition. Muscle strength matters a lot to lift more than 200 kg (which is four times Mirabai’s body weight). And most importantly, I cannot skip training. If I skip training for a day, it will take me a week to recover and get my muscles in perfect condition. If there is no strength or stamina, one cannot lift weights. It is a tough process and one cannot rest. Suppose to lift 85 kg in snatch, one has to lift 50 kg at least 100 times and then gradually increase the weight.”
The injuries have made Mirabai even more determined. The star weightlifter, for whom the Sports Ministry has spent over Rs 2.7 crore for her training in the Paris cycle through the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and other athlete funding programmes, laments not having an Asian Games medal in her cabinet. The five-month stay away from weightlifting has actually made her even more combative. Winning another Olympic medal is her only goal.
She said, “Not winning a medal at the Asian Games is bad luck for me, I definitely wanted to win a medal and in Hangzhou I was just one step away from winning a medal when I got injured. Even after so much preparation, I got injured. It is definitely sad, but at the same time the injuries have made me more determined to come back stronger for India. So I never had any negative thoughts about quitting the sport. It is a big deal for any weightlifter to participate in two Olympics. It is tough to compete at the world level. Like Tokyo, I will again rely on the prayers of all Indians and of course, it will be God’s will on that day in Paris. Winning a second Olympic medal would be a dream for me and my family, but I also know that even the best preparations can fail. So, let’s hope for the best.”
Paris 2024 will be Mirabai’s third Olympics. After a poor start at Rio 2016, the 30-year-old Manipuri made an impressive comeback with stellar performances at global competitions.She became the first weightlifter in 22 years to become a world champion in 2017. Won gold at CWG 2018 in Gold Coast and after missing out on a medal at the 2019 World Championships, the diminutive weightlifter created history at the 2020 Asian Championships in China. In clean and jerk, Mirabai lifted 119 kg in Ningbo, a world record. Then the biggest achievement of her career was securing a silver medal at the Tokyo Games. And now she is one medal away from becoming the first. Indian weightlifter For winning two Olympic medals.
She will lead the country’s challenge in the women’s 49kg category, which, according to her, will be a tough one as “the competition is going to be very tough this time”. For Mirabai, the only Indian weightlifter to qualify for the Games, the time from now till August 7 – the day the Olympic qualifiers take place – will be very difficult. Weight Lifting The competition – which will start in Paris – will be dedicated to “managing all the muscles in my body” and “improving my technique to lift at least 90 kilograms in the snatch”.
Mirabai has a personal best of 88 kg in snatch, which helped her lift a total of 201 kg at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, including 113 kg in clean and jerk. With Paris looming, Mirabai has been very cautious about her competitions this year. In 2024, she participated in only one competition – the World Cup – and finished 12th with a lift of 184 kg. However, it was enough to make it to Paris.
“After Asian Games “The World Cup was my first competition despite the injury. I was definitely afraid of getting another injury. I didn’t want to ruin my chance in Paris. So, yes, there was a fear of injury. For me, injury management and staying stress-free will be important. I have to do things that will help me recover. Injuries and pain are our companions. You never know when they will strike. We have to overcome them and Paris will tell me how well I have managed these aspects of the game,” Mirabai told SAI Media at the NIS Patiala Centre.
Injuries have been Mirabai’s constant companion. After winning a historic silver medal in Tokyo, she has suffered multiple injuries. A hip injury at the Hangzhou Asian Games kept her out of action for five months. Managing injuries with her trusted American physio Dr Aaron Horschig and coach Vijay SharmaIt has been his biggest challenge.
Mirabai and her team will leave for La Ferté-Milan in France in the first week of July and will have about a month to “acclimatise” before the Summer Games. She says there is a direct relationship between fitness and technique and every muscle has a role to play in lifting weights.
She said, “Weightlifting is the sum of many parts. A lot of exercises have to be done in the gym as every part of the body plays its role. Certain muscles like the back, knees and shoulders need to be in perfect condition. Muscle strength matters a lot to lift more than 200 kg (which is four times Mirabai’s body weight). And most importantly, I cannot skip training. If I skip training for a day, it will take me a week to recover and get my muscles in perfect condition. If there is no strength or stamina, one cannot lift weights. It is a tough process and one cannot rest. Suppose to lift 85 kg in snatch, one has to lift 50 kg at least 100 times and then gradually increase the weight.”
The injuries have made Mirabai even more determined. The star weightlifter, for whom the Sports Ministry has spent over Rs 2.7 crore for her training in the Paris cycle through the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and other athlete funding programmes, laments not having an Asian Games medal in her cabinet. The five-month stay away from weightlifting has actually made her even more combative. Winning another Olympic medal is her only goal.
She said, “Not winning a medal at the Asian Games is bad luck for me, I definitely wanted to win a medal and in Hangzhou I was just one step away from winning a medal when I got injured. Even after so much preparation, I got injured. It is definitely sad, but at the same time the injuries have made me more determined to come back stronger for India. So I never had any negative thoughts about quitting the sport. It is a big deal for any weightlifter to participate in two Olympics. It is tough to compete at the world level. Like Tokyo, I will again rely on the prayers of all Indians and of course, it will be God’s will on that day in Paris. Winning a second Olympic medal would be a dream for me and my family, but I also know that even the best preparations can fail. So, let’s hope for the best.”
