It was yet another heartbreak for the Indian contingent at the Paris Olympics 2024 as Mirabai Chanu missed the 49kg weightlifting bronze medal by just 1 kilogram on Thursday. The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist ended her campaign in the 4th position with a score of 199. It was just short of Thailand's Surodchana Khambao who claimed the bronze medal with a score of 200. While Chanu and Khambao were tied at 88kg after the snatch round, the Thai weightlifter claimed the third spot with 112kg in the clean and jerk round while Chanu could manage to lift 110kg. The Indian weightlifter did try to lift 117kg on two occasions but he was unsuccessful in both attempts.
Chanu was visibly disappointed after her final attempt where he failed to lift 117kg as she covered her face and was on the verge of tears.
Romania's Mihaela Cambei was leading with a score of 205 but China's Zhihui Hou broke the Olympic record to win the gold medal with a score of 107 in her final attempt of the second phase and ended the night with 206 points.
In the snatch phase, Chanu started with a statement, matching Dominican Republic's Beatriz Piron with the highest lift of the night as she lifted 85 kg weight without difficulty. The two were tied for the best score of the round until Thailand's Surodchana Khambao surpassed them with a score of 86 on her first attempt.
Chanu tried to better her best from the Tokyo Olympics (87 kg) and tried to lift 88 kg on her second attempt which she was unable to do. However, was successful in lifting 88kg in her final snatch attempt which was at the time the highest of the night.
Romania's Mihaela Cambei finished with the best attempt of the snatch phase as she lifted 93 kg with her third attempt.
In clean and jerk, Chanu failed to lift 111 kg and made an unsuccessful last-ditch effort of 114 kg. But that was not enough to help her finish with a medal.
Chanu had previously had a total of 202 kg (87 kg snatch, 115 kg clean and jerk) to claim the coveted podium in the women's 49 kg category at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Her all-time best lift is 205 which she achieved in the Asian Championship in 2020.
(With IANS inputs)