Mirabai Chanu is all set to lift an Olympic barbell stacked with weights of different kinds in her weightlifting medal event on Saturday. Besides the hundreds of kilograms of steel, the weight of a billion expectations also lie on her shoulders.
The Manipuri weightlifter is among India’s strongest medal contenders in a depleted field in the women’s 49kg category.
Mirabai’s coach Vijay Sharma expects her to be engaged in a three-way battle with China’s Hou Zhihui, the current world record holder, and USA’s World Cup winner Jourdan Elizabeth Delacruz. Indonesia’s Asia Windy Cantika, who beat Mirabai to the silver at the Asian Championships, could also pose a threat. Vijay, however, felt that Mirabai is certain to seal a place on the podium. “Her preparations have been going on really well. Our training camp in the USA was the key to help her maintain her peak. We’re very confident of returning with a medal, but the colour of the medal will depend on how she performs on Saturday,” said Vijay here on Friday.
He added that her stupendous show at the Asian Championships in May has put her in good stead for the Olympics. Mirabai set a new clean and jerk world record of 119kg and also set a new personal best with a combined total of 205kg.
