Mission 205-plus: On return from injury, Mirabai Chanu sets target for Paris Olympics

She heaved her lowest weight in years at the World Cup recently but Olympic silver-medallist Mirabai Chanu is actually quite chuffed about her performance.

As she managed it on the back of just one month’s training after enduring a challenging injury breakdown. With only four months to go for the Paris Olympics, Chanu, who was competing in her first tournament since her Asian Games breakdown, finished 12th at the IWF World Cup with a total effort of 184kg (81kg+103kg), a whopping 33kg behind China’s Hou Zhihui, who will look to defend her Olympic title.

“I was delighted to be back in the competition. Everything is okay now, recovery is good. I’m training at 70 per cent,” Chanu told PTI.

After watching her opponents raise the bar by breaking records in the 49kg weight class, Chanu’s confidence received a significant boost when she heaved the barbell after just a month of training.

“It felt very good. After the injury (at Asian Games), I lifted weights after 4-5 months and I got a lot of confidence,” she said.

“Weightlifting is different, there is always fear as to what will happen. I felt confident that I was able to make a recovery so fast,” added Chanu, who is exclusively managed by IOS Sports.

An Asian Games medal is the only one that Chanu, who has a personal best of 88kg in snatch and 119kg in clean and jerk, hasn’t been able to get her hands on. She has stood on the podium at the Olympics, World Championships, Commonwealth Games and the Asian Championships.

In the 2022 edition of the continental showpiece, she not only missed a medal in Hangzhou but also suffered hip tendonitis, with less than a year to go for the Olympics.

What ensued was a dark and challenging period for the 29-year-old as she could only do upper-body exercises and relied on her mother, who travelled to Patiala, for emotional support.

“When we returned from the Asian Games, the doctor said I need to rest. But even after that, it didn’t get okay. I used to feel pain while squatting. Injury always leads to mental disturbance. You keep on thinking what will happen in the future? Will I be able to train?

“I called my family, my mother stayed here with me. That gave me a lot of support. I relaxed my mind and did the exercises that I could in 4-5 months.”

Chanu’s perseverance paid off and she was able to make a relatively quick recovery.

“I only just started training…hardly one month. Given that, I was able to perform well. But now we know what I have to work on and what needs to be done. Everything is going well and if things continue I will give my best in Paris.”

‘200kg WON’T FETCH OLYMPIC MEDAL’

Only wrestler Sushil Kumar and shuttler PV Sindhu have won back-to-back medals in individual sports for India at the Olympics.

“This time 200kg won’t fetch a medal. There will be a tough fight. Plans are in place for a 205kg plus total but execution needs to be perfect. The daily training will determine how the total will be in Paris,” chief coach Vijay Sharma said.

At the Tokyo Games, a total effort of 202kg was enough for Chanu to fetch the silver. But with competition increasing, Sharma reckons a 205kg plus total is the minimum she will have to lift.

“We need to work really hard for a medal. Because of the injury, we have to go slow. Every training session is important. We don’t want to risk anything by going fast.

“The main training is left. 184kg was an easy task. The most important thing is to go from 184kg to 205kg. A lot of things need to be done.

“We are going slow because we have time if we go fast we can face problems. We need to peak in July-August. Slowly the training load will increase. It will happen, we just need to be injury-free.”

As far as the coveted 90kg snatch mark goes, both Chanu and Sharma are confident that it will come soon.

“I’m tweaking my technique and I’m confident I will be able to reach the mark,” Chanu said.