Lifter Mirabai Chanu snatches silver in World Championships with rare save

Tribune News Service

Vinayak Padmadeo

New Delhi, December 7

Vijay Sharma, the chief coach of the Indian weightlifting team, can’t hide his joy and pride on the phone call from Bogota. He has two reasons to be ecstatic. Mirabai Chanu won silver in the 49kg category at the World Championships today morning Indian time, lifting a combined total of 200kg (113kg in clean & jerk, 87kg in snatch); by salvaging her final lift from a difficult position, Mirabai earned accolades for her coach as well.

According to Sharma, Mira did the unthinkable with her final lift. After her first successful lift of 84kg in snatch, she registered a ‘no lift’ on her second attempt (87kg) when she bent her arms. At this point, the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist was in the danger of finishing eighth. She needed to register a valid lift on her final attempt, which was pegged at 87kg again.

Struggling with a niggle in her left wrist, Mira struggled to complete the snatch lift in one motion and was in the danger of registering another ‘no lift’. Then, still in the squat position, she took a step, steadied herself and managed to register a clean lift. International coaches watching her were surprised by how Mira salvaged that lift and rushed to congratulate Sharma.

“It was a very rare lift. All the coaches congratulated me, saying our coaching staff is training her well for all eventualities,” Sharma told The Tribune from Bogota. “I’m happy with the silver, but days like this are rare when fellow coaches compliment you. We then feel we’re doing alright.”

“But the credit should go to Mira only as she saved the lift with her willpower and fighting spirit. All I did was to tell her that her last attempt would decide whether we stayed in competition,” Mira’s long-time coach added.

Wrist trouble

Mira’s wrist troubled her during the clean & jerk lifts as well. Her first attempt was registered as a ‘no lift’ before she lifted 111kg, followed by 113kg, aggregating 200kg.

Gold was won by China’s Jiang Huihua with a total of 206kg, while Tokyo Olympics champion Hou Zhihua won bronze with 198kg.

“She has been lifting for 13 years. The shoulder issue that caused imbalance in her back is the reason for her wrist problem,” Sharma said. “The World Championships was an important tournament so we could not have given her a rest. Now she can rest and we will start strengthening treatment soon.”