Olympic silver medallist Mirabai Chanu finished sixth at the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Jinju in South Gyeongsang Province in South Korea. Chanu did not take her last two attempts at the clean and jerk, which has been her strength being the world record holder. After skipping her final two Clean and Jerk lifts, she finished with a total of 194 kg, which was her lowest at an event in six years.
Chanu lifted 85 kg to begin the snatch, which she did flawlessly. She then set a weight of 88 kg in an effort to beat her previous record. The Manipuri had to settle with an 85 kg total in snatch when her subsequent two attempts to hoist the barbell failed. Four lifters, all of whom lifted 90 kg or more, outperformed Chanu in the snatch competition.
Mirabai’s head coach Vijay Sharma had stated before the event that the main objective of the event was ‘just to participate’ as She has been recovering from a lengthy hip joint injury which could have deteriorated had she attempted the clean and jerk. It is to be noted that she is the world record holder in clean and jerk with her highest lift being 119kg. The weightlifter is well on her way to qualifying for the Olympics and does not need to give her best right now. The Indian was placed second in the qualification list before Jinju, thanks to her 200kg in Bogota last year.
A lifter must compulsorily compete in both the 2023 World Championships and the 2024 World Cup in order to qualify for the 2024 Olympics and must compete in three of the following events in addition to the two mentioned above: the 2022 World Championships, 2023 Continental Championships, 2023 Grand Prix I, 2023 Grand Prix II, and 2024 Continental Championships.
