India's weightlifting spearhead Saikhom Mirabai Chanu has more or less confirmed her Paris Olympic Games 2024 berth, after finishing third in the women's 49kg Group B event of the IWF World Cup 2024 in Phuket, Thailand on Monday, April 1. (More Sports News)
Chanu, who is back in action after a six-month-long injury lay-off, lifted a total of 184kg (81kg+103kg) at the World Cup, which is the final and a compulsory qualifier for Paris 2024.
With her event completed, the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist has fulfilled the criteria for Paris Olympics, which is participating in two mandatory events and three other qualifiers. The 2017 world champion is ranked second in the women's 49kg Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR) currently, behind China's Jiang Huihua.
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The official announcement for the Paris Games qualification will come after the the World Cup ends, when the OQR will be updated. The top 10 weightlifters from each weight class will qualify for the showpiece quadrennial event.
Chanu last participated at the Hangzhou Asian Games in September 2023 where she suffered a hip tendonitis injury. Though she was not at her best in Phuket, the 29-year-old made five clean lifts.
Her lifts in the snatch and clean and jerk sections were nowhere near her personal best efforts. Chanu has a personal best of 88kg in snatch, while she had lifted the then world record of 119kg in clean and jerk at the Asian Championships in 2021.
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However, as she is coming off an injury and rehab, the star lifter still has time to peak in July. Chanu will most likely be the only Indian weightlifter at Paris 2024, which will be her third Olympics appearance.
(With PTI inputs)
