- The only major championship gold medal that Mirabai Chanu lacks is the Asian Games gold
- She has come closest to the gold with her 4th place at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games
- She made her international debut at the age of 19 with a 9th place at the 2014 Asian Games
2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Mirabai Chanu has all the medals in her cabinet barring one, the Asian Games.
The continental medal has eluded the weightlifter from Manipur despite coming as close as fourth in the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.
Mirabai first competed in the continental showpiece at the age of 19, finishing ninth at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. She was later forced to withdraw from the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta due to a back injury that disrupted her preparations. Later in Hangzhou, a hip injury dashed her hopes after coming agonisingly close to sealing a podium finish. The setback had also side-lined her for nearly five months.
“The Asian Games is very important personally because I still have unfinished business there,” Mirabai said on the sidelines of the Khelo India Tribal Games on Thursday.
An experienced weightlifter participating in both Commonwealth and Asian Games in a 40 day period and different weight classes isn't going to be a simple task.
“I will stay in the 48 kg category until after the Commonwealth Games are finished, where in less than 2 months I will have to go back to the 49 kg category at the Asian Games,” stated Mirabai. “First of all, keeping my body weight is a very difficult issue now. In my last competitions I was in the 49kg weight category, so it has become difficult for me now to adapt.”
For me now in a 48kg category weight class I need to be much more careful and disciplined with controlling my body weight than I have ever been before. It is very difficult to control food intake. If I feel that I may eat something, I should not eat it because it can cause me to be overweight. So in a nutshell, keeping my body weight is going to make this a real challenge; therefore every athlete is going to feel that at this level.”
The season began well for Mirabai as she could break the 48kg category lifting record with her 89kg snatch lift, which was an improvement for her despite competing in a weight class lower than her normal division (49kg). She followed this with another successful lift to set a national record in Women's 48kg for Clean & Jerk with her 116kg Association Lift.
She will be competing against other countries in the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games this year at the Asian Weightlifting Championships and World Weightlifting Championships.
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