- Mirabai Chanu won the silver medal in Weight lifting at Tokyo Olympic 2020 in 49 kg of weight category.Ā
- For CMG 2022, she will participate under 55 kg of weight category.Ā Mirabai Chanu, an Olympic silver medalist in weightlifting, will compete in a new weight class at the Commonwealth Plays later this year, the 55kg, to assist India to win further gold medals at the multi-sport competition in Birmingham.Ā
- Chanu has had a lot of success in the 49kg weight category, including capturing 2nd place at last year’s Tokyo Olympics. She simultaneously holds the record for clean and jerk in this weight category. She competed in the 48kg weight class, winning the world tournament championship in 2017. She won silver and gold in the 48kg category in the 2014 and 2018 CWGs.Ā Vijay Sharma, Head Coach, and The Indian Weightlifting Federation believe the 27-year-old has a better chance of winning gold in the 55kg group at the 2022 CWG than colleague Sorokhaibam Bindyarani Devi, who won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Championships in December. olympic
“We (coach and federation) had one discussion and decided that even in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, India should recapture medals in all the women’s weight categories,” Chanu remarked. So we have a chance to win one there,” Chanu, a two-time CWG medalist, added. “We chose to step up to 55kg since there’s a potential of collecting 4-5 gold medals.”Ā
Jhilli Dalabehera, the silver medalistĀ at the Commonwealth Championships, remains India’s gold medal candidate in the 49kg category. Chanu should be a gold medal favorite in the 49kg weight class, but she’ll have to fight hard to earn gold in the 55kg weight class.Ā “I’ll have to put in a lot of effort and increase the weight I lift because it’ll be a tough competition” (in 55kg). Chanu, who has a career-high of 207kg (88kg+119kg), stated, “I will not increase my weight; I will keep it at 50kg-51kg, which is my ideal weight.”Ā
At the Asian Games just a month after the CWG in Birmingham (July 28 to August 8), the petite Manipuri is undecided about whether she will return to the 49kg class or compete in the 55kg class in the continental event. “At the Asian Games, I haven’t determined which weight category I’ll compete in.” After CWG, I’ll make a decision. “If everything goes well, I may continue in 55kg,” she said.Ā
Chanu willĀ compete in the Singapore Weightlifting International early next month to secure a spot for Commonwealth Games in her new category for the first time since her historic Tokyo achievement. The Manipur lifter is fine-tuning her snatch technique in the hopes of resolving her “unbalanced issue” and avoiding injuries. Ā
“I’m concentrating a little more on snatch because it’s my weak spot. The tug is all about technique, so I’m working on it and trying to shake things up a bit. That new technique will be difficult to master. But maybe if I improve my method somewhat, my unbalance problem will go away, and I’ll be less likely to get hurt.”Ā Ā Ā
Chanu faces trouble in the snatch area is nothing new since she suffers from an issue that impacts her shoulder and back. Dr. Aaron Horschig, a veteran weightlifter, turned physiological psychotherapist and physical training coach in the United States, helped her tremendously in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics.
Published By – Pawan Rajput
Edited By – Mahi Gupta
