Can Mirabai Chanu end India's 2-decade-long Olympic medal drought in weightlifting?

She came, she saw, she conquered. After almost two years away from the sport, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu is back with a bang.

In a performance that will send shivers down the spines of her competitors, the Indian broke the existing world clean and jerk record for in her final attempt in the 49 kg category to bag a bronze medal at the Asian Weightlifting Championships. With this, Mirabai Chanu has also raised the hopes of her countrymen for another historic Olympic medal from weightlifting in Tokyo.

After a wobbly start in the snatch category, where Mirabai Chanu failed in her first two attempts, she managed to stave off disqualification with an 86 kg lift.

In the clean and jerk category, however, she made an astounding 119 kg final lift to clinch the bronze medal, bettering the previous world record by a kilo. Her total of 205kg is a national record. She also prevented a podium sweep by China in the process.

Her previous best was the 203 kg she lifted at the national championships in Kolkata last year.

With this, hopes from the 'Pocket Dynamite' of Manipur have increased manifold, especially in the context of the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, which shall be held a year after it was unfortunately delayed due to the rising COVID-19 pandemic.

It's been more than two decades since India won their first and only medal in weightlifting, when ex-world champion Karnam Malleshwari created history at Sydney 2000, becoming the first Indian woman to clinch an Olympic medal of any color. So the question arises, can Mirabai Chanu end the two-decade long wait for a second Olympic medal in the sport?

The Chances

India’s efforts through the years at picking up Olympic medals in weightlifting have been hampered by restrictions on number of participants, courtesy multiple doping violations. This time, however, the country has a realistic chance of an Olympic medal, with even a possible change in color, thanks to Mirabai Chanu.

Both Mirabai Chanu and Karnam Malleshwari created history by winning the top honors at IWF World Weightlifting Championships. While Malleshwari won 4 medals, including two consecutive gold medals in 1994 and 1995, Mirabai Chanu bagged gold in 2017.

Moreover, Mirabai Chanu is among the few weightlifters in the 49 kg category who have lifted over 200 kg in total. To put her Asian Championships performance in perspective, her total of 205 kg would have won her silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics. And this could easily be converted into gold in Tokyo if Mirabai Chanu holds her nerves against the rampaging Chinese challenge.

Karnam Malleswari, the trendsetter

The Challenges

The journey, however, will not be an easy one. Mirabai Chanu will have to grapple with two problems if she wishes to reign supreme in Tokyo, three if we take into account the COVID-19 pandemic's unpredictable nature. The first is her inconsistent starts, especially in the snatch category. Despite her resilience, Mirabai Chanu is not at her best when it comes to taking a head start, which showed at the Asian Championships.

The other problem is her issues with back pain, which forced her to miss the Asian Games and Worlds in 2018. One would seriously hope that this ailment doesn't haunt her at the time she needs everything on her side.

However, if these problems are kept aside, Mirabai Chanu has a very realistic chance of ending the Olympic drought, provided she keeps herself cool and focuses on the goal at hand.

Mirabai Chanu in action at World Championships 2017