2021 Tokyo Olympics | Can fight with the Chinese weightlifters to win top honours, claims Mirabai Chanu

Mirabai Chanu recently scripted a world record lift in clean and jerk with a lift of 119kg during the Asian Weightlifting Championships, but her relatively poor show in the snatch (86kg) earned her a Bronze medal eventually. She is expected to qualify for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics given her current rank and is one of India’s brightest medal prospects at the quadrennial event.

With North Korea already withdrawing from the Games, the road is clear for Mirabai when the event gets underway in Tokyo, with only her Chinese opponent set to give her a run for the money. The 2018 Commonwealth Games Gold medallist is adamant to claim Gold medal in the upcoming Olympics and simultaneously break the dominance of China in the discipline.

"I don't want a silver in the Olympics, I want gold. I have to go beyond the Chinese lifters. They think that no one can lift more than them but I want to break that. I can fight with them," said Mirabai Chanu, during an interview with PTI.

Even though she bossed around in clean and jerk during the 2021 Asian Weightlifting Championships, Mirabai failed to lift 85kg twice in the snatch section, while a third failed attempt could have disqualified him from the meet. The Indian athlete feels she needs to improve in the snatch to be at par with her Chinese counterpart.

"I have to improve snatch to be at par with the Chinese. The difference in snatch is more. I knew I couldn't cover that much but I had prepared for 91kg-92kg (for the Asian Championship) but that didn't pan out as expected,” added the former World Champion.

"My back got a bit loose. I never thought I'd not be able to lift (85kg). But then sir (coach Vijay Sharma) added one kilogram and I was only thinking 'whatever happens I have to lift this'.”