Ravaged by injuries Mirabi Chanu gets into the Olympics in Paris.

Mirabai Chanu, the silver medalist from the Tokyo Olympics, placed third in the IWF World Cup women’s 49kg group B competition, almost guaranteeing her spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Chanu demonstrated her tenacity upon her return from a six-month injury layoff by lifting 184 kg (81 kg snatch + 103 kg clean and jerk), the last and necessary qualification weight for the Paris Olympics.

How did Mirabai get into the Olympics in Paris?

As the lone weightlifter from India to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Mirabai Chanu guaranteed herself a chance at a second Olympic medal on Monday (formal ratification on April 11). The 29-year-old Olympic silver winner earned her spot in the Paris Games by placing third in Group B of the women’s 49kg IWF World Cup (and 11th overall).

Lifters must compete in the 2023 World Championships, the 2024 World Cup, and three other major tournaments in order to qualify for the Paris Olympics, according to IWF qualifying regulations. In addition to competing at the 2022 Worlds, 2023 Asian Championships, 2024 World Cup, and registering for the 2023 Worlds and Grand Prix II, where she finished all the requirements but did not compete, Mirabai met the requirements. She is now placed #2 in the Olympic Qualification Rankings (OQR) [list updated on March 4, 2024], which makes her eligible to compete in the Paris Games.

After the World Cup on Monday, the top 10 lifters are determined by the OQR, which ranks competitors based on their best results throughout the qualifying round.

On the day of her Asian Games competition, Mirabai had mentioned that she was experiencing discomfort in her thigh, but she still went for it. At the time, this looked to have destroyed her chances of traveling to Paris. Since winning the silver medal in the Olympics, the 29-year-old has been plagued by injuries. The gold medal she won in the Commonwealth Games was her greatest victory since Tokyo, but even before the tournament started, she was the clear favorite. But ever since, she has had a terrible time being consistent.

Her wrist gave way during the lift, but she managed to avoid a potentially catastrophic injury and go on to earn silver in the 2022 World Championships. She joined in 2023 but ultimately chose to

Almost a month before her competition, she will soon go to La Ferté-Milon in France to be ready for the most difficult competition of her life in Paris. She had started India’s medal tally back in Tokyo, and this time around there won’t be any differences in the expectations.

Mirabai stated following the tournament, “It feels amazing to return after an injury. I felt strong and confident as I left this competition, and almost every lift I made today was clean, clear, and powerful. The rehabilitation process was difficult and challenging, but I overcame all the difficulties because of the support of everyone who was engaged in my recovery. I’m thrilled to be back on the road after the arduous and unwavering devotion and hard work that brought me this far.

Mr. Vijay Sharma, her coach, stated: “We concentrated only on Mirabai’s recovery in the run-up to this tournament. She is returning after six months of injury and recuperation, so seeing her perform with ease today makes me proud of all the hard work we have put in. She lifted with confidence and ease today. We’re almost done, and now our attention is fully fixed on the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. It’s time to focus all of our efforts on getting ready for the big event in Paris.”

Mirabai faces several challenges: she is recovering from an injury, hasn’t competed as often as she would have wanted, and the competition is only growing more difficult. World records have been broken by China’s Hou Zhuhai and Thailand’s Khambao Surodchana.