Mirabai comes agonisingly close to a medal before disappointing in Paris

Mirabai Chanu winning a second consecutive Olympic medal was always going to be a daunting task considering her age and injuryravaged body But it was not farfetchedThe star Indian lifter however did herself no favours by delivering a performance that fell well short of her best at the Paris Olympics 2024 leaving her with no option but to live with the agony of a fourthplace finishThe most decorated weightlifter in the country she had ended Indias 21year wait for an Olympic medal in the sport by clinching a silver at the Tokyo Games three years ago Her glittering trophy cabinet is a testament to her consistencyBut in the French capital last week Chanu fumbled three of her six lifts two of which came in the clean and jerk section considered her forteChanu a former world champion had put herself in the third spot after she nailed a national recordequalling 88kg snatch lift at the South Paris ArenaIndias shinning star mirabai_chanu narrowly missed Olympic Medal in Weightlifting 49kg by small margin and come 4th at Paris2024 but we are very proud of your achievements amp always proud of you Cheer4Bharat pictwittercomNyrwKGSeQImdash Kiren Rijiju KirenRijiju August 7 2024Given that her clean and jerk personal best was second only to Chinas Hou Zhihui and significantly more than Romanias Mihaela Cambei and Thailands Surodchana Khambao it was expected that Chanu would overcome the deficit and secure the silver once againChanu whose personal best in clean and jerk is 119kg opted for 114kg on the barbell in her third and final attempt which would have fetched her a bronzeNational coach Vijay Sharma has always maintained that a total of 205kg206kg was needed to win gold and they were training to achieve that His calculations were spot on but Chanus execution was notHer total effort of 199kg was just one kilogram less than the bronze winning Thai lifters best effortTo put things into perspective if Chanu had lifted her personal best in clean and jerk as well she could have been an Olympic champion todayChanu had entered the Tokyo Games brimming with confidence after having shattered the clean and jerk world record but in her last tournament ahead of the Paris edition she heaved 184kg 81kg103kg her lowest total in yearsShe competed in just five tournaments in the three years between the Tokyo Olympics and the Paris Olympics 2024Also ReadFrom Paris to LA How the city is preparing for the next editionThe Sports Ministry spent Rs 274 crore on her in the Paris Olympic cycle which included sending her to train under Dr Aaron Horschig a former weightlifterturnedphysical therapist and strength and conditioning coach in the US in May 2023Horschigs service was again procured for a preOlympic training campThis Olympic cycle has been marred by injuries for Chanu who turned 30 just a day after the competition in ParisShe sustained a wrist injury during the 2023 World Championships where she still managed to claim a silver medal Her next appearance was at the 2023 Asian Championships where she finished fifthChanu then returned to action at the Asian Games only to be hampered by hip tendonitisThe strain of lifting twice her body weight and injuries have taken their toll on Chanu As the lone hope of Indian weightlifting for years her journey highlights a troubling reality the absence of a deserving successorThis is a matter that the Indian Weightlifting Federation must seriously contemplateWith agency inputs