Published: Dec 07, 2022, 09:05 AM (IST)
Edited: Dec 07, 2022, 09:51 AM (IST)
Bogota (Colombia): Star Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu was not at her best due to a wrist injury but still won a silver medal at the World Championships with a total lift of 200kg on Wednesday.
The Tokyo Olympic silver medallist, competing in 49kg category, managed to lift 87kg in snatch and in clean and jerk her best effort was a lift of 113kg.
The Indian finished behind China’s Jiang Huihua, who won the gold with a total effort of 206kg (93kg+113kg) while her compatriot and Tokyo Olympics champion Hou Zhihua 198kg (89kg+109kg) took home the bronze medal.
“We were not taking any pressure for this event. This is the weight Mira lifts regularly. From now we will start increasing the weights and improving,” head coach Vijay Sharma told PTI.
Chanu, the 2017 world champion, had hurt her wrist during a training session in September. She had also participated in the National Games with the injury in October.
“We couldn’t do much (about the injury) because we didn’t want to skip the World Championships. Now, we will focus on her wrist because we have a lot of time before the next event,” Sharma said.
It is the Manipuri’s second Worlds medal, she had won a gold in 2017. Medals are awarded separately for snatch, clean and jerk, and total lift in continental and World Championships. But, just one medal for total lift is awarded in the Olympics.
The 2022 World Championship is the first qualifying event for the 2024 Paris Olympics, where weightlifting events will be cut from 14 at Tokyo Games to 10. However, it is an additional event and not a compulsory one.
Under the 2024 Olympic qualification rule, a lifter has to compulsorily compete in the 2023 World Championships and the 2024 World Cup.
Apart from the above, the lifter also has to participate in three of the following events — the 2022 World Championships, the 2023 Continental Championships, the 2023 Grand Prix 1, the 2023 Grand Prix II and the 2024 Continental Championships.
