Paris Olympics 2024: Mirabai Chanu finishes fourth in Women's 49kg Weightlifting

Mirabai Chanu had won silver in the same event at Tokyo Olympics.

Tokyo Olympics 2020 silver medallist Mirabai Chanu joined the list of Indian athletes with near-misses at Paris Olympics 2024, as she finished fourth in the women’s 49kg weightlifting. She thus became the sixth Indian to finish fourth at the ongoing global showpiece event.

On the eve of her 30th birthday, Mirabai had a below-par total of 199kg (88+111). Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Chinese Hou Zhihui retained her title, with a total of 206 kg (89+117). Romanian Mihaela Cambei won silver, successfully lifting 205kg (93+112), while Thai Surodchana Khambao attained a score of 200kg (88+112) to bag the bronze medal.

No medal for Mirabai Chanu in #Paris2024!! 💔🇮🇳She finishes 4th with a total lift of 199kgs.#Weightlifting pic.twitter.com/XQ6GhuRZYZ

— Khel Now (@KhelNow) August 7, 2024

Mirabai Chanu was joint third, in terms of the listed weight. Her entry weight was 200kg. Zhihui topped the list, with 210kg. She was followed by Cambei at 205kg, while Khambao and American Jourdan Delacruz too had an entry weight of 200kg.

The weightlifter from Manipur began the snatch section with a successful attempt of 85kg. Her next attempt was originally to be 86kg, before it was changed to 88kg. She was unsuccessful, ending up lifting it too fast off the floor.

She attempted 88kg on her third lift too. She had one red light shining, but her attempt was deemed successful by the jury and thus achieved her personal best in snatch.

Zhihui, who has a World Record snatch lift of 97kg, had a very under-par performance, lifting 89kg only on her second attempt, before an unsuccessful attempt of 91kg.

On the other hand, Cambei started with 89kg and eventually broke her own European record, lifting 93kg. Khambao managed to lift the same weight as the Indian.

In her pet section- the clean and jerk, Mirabai Chanu, the 2022 World Championships silver medallist was initially planning to start with 107kg but decided to move up to 111 kg. Her first attempt was shockingly unsuccessful, and Mirabai herself looked a bit bewildered. However, she came back immediately to lift the same weight and was successful this time.

With Khambao having lifted 112 kg (her personal best), the Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medallist decided to try a lift of 114 kg. However, she couldn’t complete the lift, finishing in fourth place with a total of 199kg.

Interestingly, Khambao couldn’t complete the lift, thus finishing with one kilogram more than that of the Indian.

Also Read: Indian athletes who finished fourth at Paris Olympics 2024

Cambei achieved a clean and jerk personal best of 112kg, finishing with 205kg. It appeared as if that might be sufficient for gold. However, the reigning Olympic gold medallist broke her own Olympic clean and jerk record, lifting 117kg successfully in her third attempt to lift the title.

Mirabai had become the second Indian weightlifter, after Karnam Malleswari at Sydney 2000, to win an Olympic medal. She was aiming to become the fourth Indian (after Sushil Kumar, PV Sindhu and Manu Bhaker) to become a double Olympic medallist.

The fact that she was unsuccessful in doing so, doesn’t diminish the legacy she has set in any manner.

Mirabai Chanu’s story is an inspirational one, as she used to travel daily to the Sports Academy in Manipur, hitching rides with truck drivers, whom she later invited, after winning the silver at Tokyo. Currently, the Additional Superintendent of Police (Sports) in the Manipur Police, she is sure to have inspired a new generation of weightlifters, and athletes in general.

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