From fluffing three clean and jerk attempts in the 2016 Rio Olympics to rewriting its world record in the Tashkent Asian championships now was a long road for Mirabai Chanu, but it brought the ace weightlifter a much-needed dose of self-belief ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
Former world champion Mirabai, who set a new record of 119kg and improved her personal best by two more kg to do 205kg and bag the women's 49kg bronze medal, is now full of confidence as she comes within the range to take a medal in the Olympics.
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“I was doing up to 120kg in my training in clean and jerk and went for the word record from the beginning. It is a big achievement. Rewriting a world record is never easy. A lot of hard work goes into it. It will give me more confidence,” Mirabai told Sportstar on Sunday.
“It is a huge source of satisfaction as I worked on my technique and strength after my failure in Rio,” she added.
Mirabai admitted that her ‘Vizag moment’ in Tashkent – where she failed in her first two snatch attempts like in the 2019 National championships in Visakhapatnam – made her nervous before she could manage 86kg in her last effort.
“I was fully nervous…now I have to improve my snatch performance. The effort will be not to fail in any of the attempts,” she said.
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Mirabai said her treatment for a long-standing lower back issue in the USA helped her. “I did the exercises prescribed in the USA and maintained those. The treatment was beneficial,” she said.
Chief coach Vijay Sharma said a technical adjustment after the Rio Games lifted Mirabai’s clean and jerk performance. “Like clean and jerk, we need to iron out a technical issue with Mira’s snatch. I am sure she can improve her overall total up to 209kg. The world record has made me confident about Mira’s capability,” he said.
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