Weightlifting, Olympics 2024: Mirabai Chanu’s Paris dream ends with a fight but by a whisker

In a day defined by the barest of margins, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu’s dream of a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the women’s 49kg event slipped away by a mere kilogram.

A kilogram is a big deal in the sport of weightlifting, but on a day when every gram felt like a burden, that one kilo felt even heavier.

Wednesday began with wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification for being overweight by about a hundred grams in the weigh-in before her gold medal bout and concluded with Chanu’s agonizing fourth-place finish, as her closest competitor lifted one kilogram more than her.

On Thursday, Chanu equalled her best lift in snatch of 88 kg, and a best clean and jerk lift of 111 kg to finish fourth with a combined lift of 199 kg.

But that was the kind of day India was having in Paris on August 7. Two prominent Indian women, despite braving injuries and teetering on the brink of history, returned home empty-handed.

That Chanu even showed up at the Paris Olympics fully fit, especially after the haunting visuals from the 2022 Asian Games, felt like a victory in itself. However, those very memories might have been what held her back.

In the lead-up to Paris, Chanu had been very strategic about her participation in competitions this year. In 2024, she competed in just one event – the IWF World Cup 2024 in Phuket, Thailand – where she was placed 12th with a combined lift of 184 kg.

Chanu’s personal best stands at a total of 205 kg (86 kg in snatch and 119 kg in clean and jerk). Besides, she holds a best of 88 kg in snatch.

However, she had looked far from her best after the injury-marred 2023 and 2024. In fact, it was a long time since she had lifted so much weight.

She had left for training at the La Ferté-Milon, France, nearly a month before the Olympics, but had been keeping it lighter than usual even during her training in Patiala.

Snatch

The pain, the months away from the sport and the rehabilitation to become Olympics-ready may have led to the hesitation in pushing for a 90 kg lift in the snatch.

Though Chanu had stated before leaving for Paris that surpassing that mark wasn’t her top priority, it was clear she would have loved to achieve it and also better her snatch, which is a relatively weaker suit for the Indian.

Her cautious and calculated approach while listing the weights on her attempts also suggested she wasn’t actively chasing the elusive 90 kg mark, but she was surely aware that at least three of her competitors had already crossed it.

European champion Mihaela Valentina Cambei of Romania and Surodchana Khambao of Thailand had both lifted over 90 kg in snatch in the past, while reigning champion Hou Zhihui of China held the world record at 97 kg.

Chanu had failed to match her personal best (88 kg) in the category in her second attempt, having achieved it in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, but lifted it successfully in her final attempt to position herself safely on the joint-third spot after the end of the snatch section.

Hou (206 kg), Cambei (205 kg), and Khambao (200 kg) all went on to claim podium finishes, yet only Cambei lifted more than 90 kg in snatch to get there. In fact, it was the clean and jerk section that proved to be the difference for Chanu.

Clean and jerk

Cambei had secured a lead in snatch (93 kg) but she was expected to lift a lot less than Chanu, Zhihui and Khambao in the clean and jerk section.

At this point, Chanu held the third place with a total of 199kg – having lifted 111kg in her second clean and jerk attempt after dropping her first – but as Khambao succeeded in lifting 112 kg in her second attempt, pushing her total to 200 kg, Chanu was forced to up her game.

The Mainpuri weightlifter aimed for 114 kg in her third attempt, but struggled to jerk the bar overhead, unable to complete the lift.

Meanwhile, Cambei began with 106 kg, quickly adjusted her second attempt to 110 kg, and then lifted 112 kg on her final try to achieve her personal best.

But it was the reigning champion Zhuihui who added to the thrill in the last few minutes of the contest.

She made her entrance with a 110 kg lift that looked almost effortless. Although she missed her second attempt at 117 kg, she delivered when it mattered most, coming through with a decisive lift of 117 kg to secure the gold.

After missing two lifts in the clean and jerk section, India’s Chanu was stuck at fourth, a whisker and kilogram away from Khambao and the medal.

Expectations weigh heavy

The pressure on Chanu was immense, fueled by the high expectations set by her previous Olympic performance, the disappointment of Hangzhou, the weight of being the sole Indian representative in weightlifting in Paris and preserving her fitness through the lifts.

After the harrowing hip joint injury at the Asian Games in September 2023 and being advised to rest for five months, she had faced significant uncertainty.

Yet, with the guidance of renowned strength and conditioning coach Dr Aaron Horschig and national coach Vijay Sharma, she pushed herself to be ready and was determined to give herselfa fighting chance. And so, her journey to Paris was a testament to her resilience as she marked her third Olympic appearance.

The fact that she was battling not only her still-recovering body, but also periods did not help her case either.

“I was on my third day of period today,” Chanu would say to reporters after finishing fourth. “I felt a bit of weakness and it affected my game.”

In Tokyo, Chanu had brought joy to India with a silver medal on the very first day of the Games. But in Paris, after a grueling twelve days, the boost India desperately needed remained elusive.

With injuries shadowing her path, the future remains uncertain, but her journey from a simple, pizza-loving girl from Manipur to turning up in Paris has been nothing short of extraordinary.