After silver at the World Championships, Mirabai eyes 90kg-plus in snatch

Indian sport’s most elusive 90 is the javelin’s trajectory for Neeraj Chopra.
And though his effort fetched him silver at the Oregon World’s, a gold while crossing the 90m mark always looks imminent for him. But there’s another 90 – this one in kilogram weight – that has proven tougher to nail down, or haul up more like, for another Olympian. Mirabai Chanu boasts a Snatch best score of 88 kg.
Though it is the 90 kg she is keen on achieving. It is in the pursuit of the 90+ kg Snatch score that the 49 kg weightlifter will head into the Paris Olympics qualification cycle. Albeit with a bunch of odds stacked against her.
A day after adding a second World Championship medal to her gold from 2017, Mirabai explains about why that 90 kg mark has been eluding her. There is a cyst in the wr to start with, which aggravates pain and performance.
“The pain in the wr started 2-3 months back. When we did an MRI, they found a cyst where blood might’ve collected,” she would explain. It makes her thumb lining weak, badly hampering the grip over the barbell. “Especially during the Snatch lift (one swift motion), when I receive and hold the weights, too much load comes on the wr, builds pressure and affects the lift. They found my ligaments to be weak, strengthening is on,” she adds.
It’s what sent her into a wobble on her third and final Snatch lift, hanging onto 87 kg somehow. “It was the final attempt, and I had to duck and hold anyhow. The last lift is the most important. I had decided I won’t dip under 200kg total, so this was important,” she recalled.
Even on a perfectly healthy day at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games with the gold an easy picking, the 90 kg with no pressure, had proven difficult. “I came close at CWG but couldn’t lift,” she says. Her best is 88 kg. “I will work on improving and focus on getting 90kg and more. I think I can go upto 91-92 kg,” she says.
While Mirabai holds the record for Clean &Jerk, the Snatch scores can really drag her down and put her on the backdoor. At Bogota at this World Championship, she was fifth going into the C&J, with the Chinese eventual champ lifting 93 kg as one of two to hit 90. Even Belgian Nina Sterckx, the junior double record holder, who has jumped down from 55kg to 49kg in seniors, made an immediate impact, securing 89 kg. Stuck on 87kg, Mirabai starts out a few places behind with others enjoying a headstart, making that 90kg important.
In C&J, her target is 120 kg, which would take her to 210 kg total if the 90kg is secured. She was 6 kg off Jiang Huihua’s 206 kg at Bogota, and at the Tokyo Olympics, Hou Zhizhi hit a record score of 210kg, while the Indian won silver with 202kg.
The wr though – in pretty bad shape – needs intense strengthening, and troubles her even when not lifting. “It bothers me even in my free time (when not lifting). It can pain a lot,” she adds.
Still, a second World medal, and a silver no less, makes her one of the most consent Indian athletes at the world level. “World championships in weightlifting are tough to medal in. I’d missed in 2020, but am satisfied with the second medal. I wanted to win this medal for the country,” she says. The 2017 gold was more of a personal redemption as well, though it gave India its first-ever World Champion.
This one is special though because she was flanked the top-class Chinese on the podium. “Yes this was good because I fought the Chinese for the medal. They are always tough and there’s always two good ones (they won gold and bronze). But I’ve always thought if they can do it, so can I. One day I’ll definitely beat the Chinese,” she vows.
While her competition schedule isn’t firmed up, the supremely refreshing thing about Mirabai Chanu is how she digs this elite competitive level, and going head to head against the Chinese, with Sindhusque relish and confidence. It’s why she is keen on face-offs at Asian Championship and Asian Games. There’s also the 2023 World Championship, and she’ll need an amount of consency and steadiness ahead of Paris.
Keeping that drive going on good days and bad, can be tough. “Hard training days can be difficult when the load feels too much. Sometimes training doesn’t go great. But I’m lucky I have a family and coach who are supportive. Especially on bad-training days. My mother tells me that all days can’t be great and I shouldn’t take tension. When you are dead tired and you return, you need them to tell you it’s alright, and there’s nothing wrong even if it’s been a rough day,” she ends.
How the competition at Bogota panned out:
Snatch
1. Jiang Huihua (Chn) 93 kg2. Mihaela Cambei (Rou) 90 kg3. Hou Zhihui (Chn) 89 kg4. Nina Sterckx (Bel) 89 kg5. Mirabai Chanu (Ind) 87 kg6. Jourdan Delacruz (USA) 86 kg
Clean & Jerk
1. Jiang Huihua (Chn) 113 kg2. Mirabai Chanu (Ind) 113 kg3. Hayley Reichardt (USA) 110 kg4. Hou Zhihui (Chn) 109 kg5. Jourdan Delacruz (USA) 105 kg6. Natasha Figuerido (Brazil) 104 kg
Total1. Jiang Huihua (Chn) 206 kg2. Mirabai Chanu (Ind) 200 kg3. Hou Zhihui (Chn) 198 kg4. Mihaela Cambei (Rou) 194 kg5. Jourdan Delacruz (USA) 194 kg6. Nina Sterckx (Bel) 193 kg