New Delhi: Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, the silver medallist from the Tokyo Olympics, suffered heartache on Wednesday as she placed fourth in the women’s 49 kg weightlifting final at the Paris Games. The Manipuri lifter admitted after the final that she felt weak on stage because it was the third day of her menstrual cycle.
After the two competition phases concluded, Mirabai’s final score was 199 kg, which was 3 kg less than her total at the Tokyo Olympics (202 kg), where she took home a silver medal. She lifted 205 kg, her personal best, at the 2020 Asian Championship.
Mirabai on missing medal for India
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Mirabai lifted 85 kg on her first try to begin the snatch round. Her second attempt at 88 kg, though, didn’t work out. On her second try, Mirabai had first written 86 kg; a few minutes later, she changed it to 88 kg.
On her last try in the snatch round, she tied her personal best of 88 kg, a national record. But rather Thai lifter Surodchana Khambao equaled her effort, and at the end of the snatch round, the two of them were tied for third place.
“Everything was going well for me in the warm up. I gave my best in snatch (88kg). Clean and jerk was also going very well (for me). I fumbled a bit in my first jerk… While walking on the stage, I was feeling a little weak because of the third day (of period
It was going well; whatever the coach said, I did. It is just destiny that a medal slipped out of my hand,” the athlete continued.
Even though Chanu marked a heavier weight than the rest of the field, he was unable to lift 111 kg in the clean and jerk. But right away, she tried the same lift again, this time succeeding and moving up to second position with Hou Zhihui.
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Surodchana, however, overcame Mirabai by lifting 112 kg on her second try, setting a new record of 200 kg total. The 29-year-old Mirabai’s botched initial try returned to haunt her as she attempted a last lift of 114 kg but was unable to clear it, finishing at 199 overall.