Star Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu’s chances of winning a medal at the upcoming Olympics received a shot in the arm on Tuesday after North Korea announced it will not be participating in the Tokyo Games.

North Korea pulled out of the Tokyo Olympics, to be held from July 23 to August 8, to protect its athletes from the “world public health crisis caused by COVID-19.”
Former world champion Chanu currently occupies the fourth place in the women’s 49kg Tokyo Games qualifying rankings with 3869.8038 Robi points—the International Weightlifting Federation’s official calculation method.