New Delhi: One of Mirabai Chanu’s most encouraging traits is her ability to smile even in the face of adversity. Whether it was at Tokyo High or a heartbreak in Paris, Chan-woo’s big smile remained the same, and he was generous when asked to reflect on his performance at this year’s Olympics.
“It’s never easy to remember a disappointment, but I’ll try,” she began, still smiling. “There’s no point worrying about what happened. It’s important for athletes to dust themselves off after a failure and start over.”
However, a fourth-place finish often means more than failure. That would be the most disastrous outcome for the sport, and even more so if you missed it by a whisker margin. Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Chanu entered Paris as one of India’s brightest medal hopefuls, but will always fend off challenges from defending champion Hou Zhihui of China and 2021 world champion Sulochana Kambao of Thailand. It was difficult.
“It hurt a lot to miss out on the medal by just 1kg, but I am happy with the fact that I gave my all to win the medal. It interfered with my training. I also had menstrual pain, which made life in Paris even more difficult.”
The 30-year-old Indian had only lifted a total of more than 200kg once at the Paris Games, but was still not fully recovered from the hip tendonitis injury he sustained at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. Considering the circumstances, lifting 199kg was reasonable. It wasn’t a bad effort – it would have earned her a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics – but Gihui (206kg), Romania’s Mihaela Cambei (205kg) and Cambo (200kg) took the top three spots. The last time all three medalists weighed over 200kg in the lowest Olympic category for women were Turkey’s Nurkan Taylan (210kg), China’s Li Zhuo (205kg) and Thailand’s Ali Wirattaworn. It was 20 years ago when they all exceeded the mark (200kg). Athens. Incidentally, the fourth place was still held by Indian athlete Kunjalani Devi.
“In any other competition, I might have won a medal in the 199kg category,” Chanu said. However, the fact remains that even at the continental level, more and more athletes in Chanu’s weight class weigh over 200kg. In Hangzhou, for example, both the gold and silver medalists, North Korea’s Ri Sung-geum (216kg) and China’s Jiang Hye-hwa (213kg), exceeded 200kg, the first time since the 2002 Busan Asian Games. Chanu also needs a snatch of 90kg or more to relieve pressure in the clean and jerk rounds.
“I know I have to raise my level to win a medal in Los Angeles,” she said. That’s still four years away, and it remains to be seen whether Chan-woo’s battered body can last that long, but the 2026 Asian Games to be held in Aichi/Nagoya, Japan is realistic but unattainable. It’s a goal.
With that in mind, Chanu started taking small steps towards achieving peak fitness. After Paris, she spent several weeks at home. Chanu flew to St. Louis in the United States in October and stayed for 10 days to resume sessions with Dr. Aaron Horsig. With her focus firmly on recovery, she recently started light weightlifting.
“Her right thigh is still developing. Barring any injuries, she can win medals anywhere in the world. With no major competitions scheduled, we will focus on strength training and progressive overload. We are there,” national coach Vijay Sharma said.
Chanu also missed the 2024 World Championships in Bahrain, but visited the tournament “to get a closer look at my opponents.”
“I don’t want to rush things. Over-training or training incorrectly can lead to muscle imbalances and more injuries, so I’m taking it slow. At the moment I’m taking it slow, resting my thighs, I focus on strengthening my muscles,” she said.
The ace weightlifter also shifted his training base from NIS Patiala to Modinagar near Ghaziabad, where Sharma runs an academy. “I thought this was the best arrangement as there is no announcement about the national team camp yet. I have no plans to go to Patiala for the time being,” Chanu concluded.
