Jeremy Lalrinnunga and Achinta Sheuli to fight for one spot at Paris Olympics
After a good showing at the CWG 2022, weightlifters Jeremy Lalrinnunga and Achinta Sheuli, who both won gold medals, will need to compete against each other in the 73kg category for a place in Olympics. The Paris Olympics does not have the 67 kg category where Jeremy won his medal.
What is even worse is that only one of them will make the cut to the Olympics as the International Weightlifting Federation's (IWF) Olympic qualification ranking will allow only one athlete per country a spot in a particular weight category.
The IWF rankings will be decided after the performances of lifters in six international competitions starting from World Championships in Colombia in November. This will be an uphill task for the Youth Olympics champion Jeremy. He has a personal best of 306kg in the 67 kg category, while Sheuli has a best of 316 kg in his category.
“It's going to be tough to change to a superior weight category. I intend to compete in the World Championships in the new category and don't have much time to waste," Jeremy Lalrinnunga told Firstpost.
Coach Vijay Sharma is mighty pleased with the duo as they have decided to compete for one spot. “Keeping them both in the same category is the only option. But there's no reason for us to lose heart as they both are quality athletes and will compliment each other at the national and international level to do their best,” Vijay Sharma said.
Paris 2024 will have 10 weight categories, five for each gender. The categories for men are 61kg, 73kg, 89kg, 102kg, +102kg. The five categories for women are 49kg, 59kg, 71kg, 81kg, +81kg.