Medal slips from hands

Rohit Mahajan in Paris

Wednesday ended in despair for India, in the manner it had begun: Vinesh Phogat lost her dream Olympics gold without a fight for being 100 grams too heavy; late at night, Mirabai Chanu, the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist, lost a medal for lifting 1,000 grams less than the bronze winner.

Mirabai finished fourth in the 49kg weightlifting event with a total lift of 199kg — 88kg in snatch, 111kg in clean and jerk. The 29-year-old Manipuri was far from being at her best and dropped the bars three times — once in snatch, twice in clean and jerk.

Mirabai started with 85kg in snatch, a strong start; minutes later, Thailand’s Surodchana Khambao lifted 86kg to take the lead. Mirabai listed 88kg as her second attempt, but failed — then she came back and lifted 88kg to take the lead! The Indians in the crowd, mourning the failure of Vinesh, went crazy with joy. The joy was short-lived, however, for Romania’s Valentina easily lifted 89kg — and followed it with stunning lifts of 91kg and 93kg. China’s Hou Zhihui had a best snatch of 89kg, and Khambao was third with 88kg.

Mirabai had much work to do in the clean and jerk section, but it is her stronger suit and that gave India hope.

Valentina lifted 106kg in her first attempt, taking her total to 199kg; she then lifted 110kg to make it 203kg! Zhihui lifted 110kg to move to 199kg, 4kg short of Valentina’s mark.

Mirabai went for 111kg, and a successful lift would have placed her joint second — but the Indian failed!

Later, Mirabai said that a “ladies problem” had left her weak — she didn’t use the word ‘period’. “I fumbled a bit in my first jerk... While walking on the stage, I was feeling a little weak because of a ‘ladies problem’... It was the third day. Whatever the coach said, I did. It is just destiny that a medal slipped out of my hand,” she said.

She succeeded in lifting 111kg a few minutes later — she was now third, one lift to go, a good chance of moving to second.

When her next total, 114kg, was flashed on the screen, everyone gasped — success would have place her joint second with 203kg. But Mirabai failed to lift 114kg — she squatted on the haunches, her hands folded, and started at nothingness.

In Tokyo three years ago, Mirabai had lifted a total of 202kg — 87kg in snatch, 115kg in clean and jerk — to win the silver medal. A lift of 115kg here would have given her the silver, but that was not to be. Mirabai will not return from Paris with a medal.

At last year’s Asian Games, Mirabai had collapsed in the middle of a lift — a year later, fourth at Olympics may seem like failure to the casual fan, but for Mirabai, who’s been plagued by injuries, it was a success.