Yearender 2021: Mirabai Chanu lifts Indian spirits with Tokyo silver but weightlifting faces uncertain future

Chanu,
a
former
world
champion,
had
left
the
2016
Rio
Olympics
in
tears
after
failing
to
log
a
legitimate
lift
but
five
years
on,
she
displayed
the
brilliant
composure
in
Tokyo
for
a
historic
silver
medal
to
bury
the
ghosts
of
the
past.

This,
despite
the
fact
that
her
plans
took
a
hit
when
the
Olympics
were
postponed
by
a
year,
leading
to
her
schedule
going
haywire
amid
the
COVID-19
pandemic.
It
was
a
confusing
period
filled
with
anxiety
but
then
she
knew
how
to
pull
herself
out
of
the
abyss,
having
done
that
remarkably
well
after
Rio.

She
set
a
new
world
record
in
the
clean
and
jerk
section
and
also
bettered
her
own
national
record
en
route
winning
her
first
Asian
Championship
medal,
a
bronze
in
April.
The
27-year-old
Indian
lifted
86kg
in
snatch
and
a
world
record
of
119kg
in
clean
and
jerk
for
a
total
of
205kg,
getting
the
better
of
both
her
Chinese
opponents
who
won
the
gold
and
silver.

The
year
only
got
better
for
Chanu,
who
now
has
medals
in
all
big
tournaments
barring
the
Asian
Games.
With
a
new
world
record
in
her
kitty
and
an
imbalance
issue
sorted,
Chanu,
was
one
of
India’s
brightest
medal
hopes
heading
into
the
Olympics
and
she
lived
up
to
that
top
billing.

She
opened
the
country’s
tally
on
the
opening
day,
an
unprecedented
feat
that
sent
the
entire
nation
into
a
frenzy.
Sporting
Olympic-ring-shaped
earrings
gifted
to
her
by
her
mother
before
the
2016
Rio
Games,
the
diminutive
Iron
lady
from
Manipur
capitalised
on
the
not-so-competitive
field
and
clinched
the
49kg
category
silver
medal
in
Tokyo.

Born
in
a
poor
family
in
Nongpok
Kakching
village
about
20
kilometres
from
Imphal,
Chanu,
whose
childhood
was
spent
cutting
and
collecting
wood
from
the
nearby
hills,
and
fetching
water
from
nearby
ponds
in
milk
powder
cans,
lifted
a
total
of
202kg
(87kg+115kg).

It
was
not
her
personal
best
but
it
was
enough
to
end
India’s
over
two-decade-long
wait
for
a
weightlifting
medal
at
the
Olympics.
Karnam
Malleswari
was
the
first
to
do
that
with
a
bronze
in
the
Sydney
games
in
2000.

With
that
massive
achievement,
Chanu’s
year
ended
as
the
Manipuri
pulled
out
of
the
World
Championship
and
Commonwealth
Championships
which
were
held
simultaneously.

While
Chanu
was
the
lone
ranger
for
India
in
weightlifting
at
the
Olympics,
Jeremy
Lalrinnunga,
touted
as
the
one
for
the
future
in
the
sport,
endured
a
bittersweet
year.
He
missed
out
on
an
Olympic
spot
in
the
67kg
category
due
to
a
knee
injury
suffered
during
the
Asian
Championships
which
also
compromised
his
performance
at
the
junior
world
championships
a
month
later.

However,
the
teenager
from
Mizoram,
who
is
a
2018
Youth
Olympics
champion,
was
able
to
end
the
year
with
a
gold
medal
at
the
Commonwealth
Championships
earlier
this
month.

With
a
top
of
the
podium
finish
at
the
event,
Jeremy
also
booked
a
spot
for
the
2022
Birmingham
Commonwealth
Games
as
did
Achinta
Sheuli
(73kg),
who
also
bagged
a
silver
medal
at
the
junior
world
championships
in
May.
Ajay
Singh
(81kg)
and
Purnima
Pandey
(+87kg)
too
won
gold
medals
at
the
event.

The
country’s
lifters,
despite
capping
off
the
year
by
winning
18
medals
in
the
Commonwealth
Championships
and
smashing
several
national
records,
weren’t
competitive
at
the
Worlds,
which
was
pretty
much
expected.

In
the
global
scheme
of
things,
as
lifters
around
the
world
continued
to
harbour
dreams
of
participating
in
the
Olympics,
the
fate
of
the
sport
at
future
Games
hung
in
balance.
Dismayed
by
decades
of
rampant
doping,
bribery,
vote-rigging
and
corruption
at
weightlifting’s
highest
levels,
the
International
Olympic
Committee
(IOC)
finally
took
action
and
threatened
to
drop
the
sport
from
the
Olympic
roster.

Earlier
this
month,
the
International
Weightlifting
Federation
(IWF)
was
described
as
a
problem
due
to
corruption
and
the
history
of
doping
by
IOC
president
Thomas
Bach.
“The
IWF
and
its
future
leadership
must
demonstrate
its
transition
towards
compliance
and
effective
change
of
culture.

Furthermore,
they
must
successfully
address
the
historical
incidence
of
doping
in
the
sport
and
ensure
the
integrity,
robustness
and
full
independence
of
its
anti-doping
programme,”
Bach
said.

Weightlifting
was
left
off
the
initial
list
for
the
2028
Los
Angeles
Games,
which
will
be
placed
before
the
IOC
members
for
approval
in
February.
Since
then,
the
IWF
has
been
busy
repairing
its
tarnished
image
but
only
time
will
tell
whether
it
would
be
able
to
secure
a
future
for
the
sport
which
has
seen
its
quota
of
athletes
come
down
from
260
at
the
Rio
Olympics
to
120
at
the
2024
Paris
Games.