Saikhom Mirabai Chanu had just walked on the stage during the introduction to loud applause; she was No. 10 on the competition list in a field of 12.But that number did not matter. The Indian lifter who won a silver at Tokyo Games was in medal contention. She always is. Sadly, she finished fourth, just 1kg behind her Thai rival who took bronze.
In the snatch, which has pulled her down sometimes, becoming the difference between gold and silver, Mirabai finally ended the jinx of 85kg. She lifted 85kg in her first try. She looked comfortable. But she missed when the bar was raised to 88kg on her second try.
She returned determined. On her third try, she snatched the barbell well, sat on her haunches for a while and got up for a ‘good lift’. Who knows, if she had managed 88kg in the second, she could have gone for 89 or 90kg.
Mirabai finished third in snatch. Tied with her was Thailand’s Surodchana Khambao. They were behind Valentin Cambei of Romania (93) and Hou Zhihui of China who lifted 93kg. The gap with the leader was 5kg. The real battle had begun. The fight for the medals was between these four ladies.
Clean and jerk is where Mirabai shows her true mettle. Her first try began at 111kg. Before that Cambei started with 106kg and went for 110kg on her second try. Zhou and Suradchana also cleared 110kg.
Mirabai then came in, touched the barbell and her forehead in a personal prayer, then went for it. She missed it. But she returned and cleared it on her second try. She had a total of 199kg. A medal was looking likely. She missed 114kg on her third try and waited for Zhou who was tied with her with two tries to go. Zhou and Mirabai were tied at 199kg after her second try. She lifted 117kg on her third try to win the gold with 206kg. Cambei was second and the Thai girl won bronze, a kg ahead of Mirabai.
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