With her sights firmly set on an elusive Asian Games medal, Mirabai Chanu will solely mark her attendance by finishing the required formalities and never elevate any weight at subsequent week’s World Championships, which is a obligatory qualifying occasion for the Paris Olympics. The World Championships, are scheduled from September 4 in Riyadh, whereas the Asian Games start lower than 20 days later in Hangzhou, China on September 23. The brief time between the 2 occasions makes it troublesome for lifters to handle their weight and peak at each the occasions.

“There is very less time between the Asian Games and the World Championships. Since there is compulsory participation at the World Championships, we have decided that Mirabai only travel to Riyadh and give the body weight.

“She will full all of the obligatory protocols like give the dope take a look at, if required. But she is not going to elevate any weight. She is just going there to take part,” head coach Vijay Sharma told PTI.

The Tokyo Olympics silver medallist, who competes in the 49kg weight class, has registered an entry weight of a mere 60kg at the World Championships. Based on that she has been placed in Group D of the competition. The lifters who register the highest entry weight are placed in group A, followed by B and so on.

Having won the World Championships in 2017 ideally, Chanu would have skipped the event but under the 2024 Olympic qualification rule, a lifter has to compulsorily compete in the 2023 World Championships and the 2024 World Cup.

On the other hand, an Asian Games medal is the only silverware missing from Chanu’s cabinet and the Manipuri has time and again insisted that she wants to win that elusive medallion in this edition of the Games.

Winning a medal at the Asian Games will, however, not be an easy affair as weightlifting powerhouses like China, Korea and Thailand will compete at the continental event.

“We are aiming to cross the 90kg mark (in snatch) on the Asian Games. It’s been some time since we have now been attempting to recover from that line. We have been specializing in Mira’s snatch right here in coaching,” Sharma said.

While Chanu leads the field in clean and jerk, her snatch performances have been underwhelming. The two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist has a personal best of 88kg in snatch and 119kg in clean and jerk, which is also the world record.

Five lifters have lifted 90kg or more in the snatch section in the current Olympic cycle, while the world record stands at 96kg.

At the Asian Championships in May, the last tournament Chanu competed in, the star Indian lifter had to withdraw from the competition due to a dodgy hip.

The 29-year-old is currently training in St Louis, USA under Dr Aaron Horschig, whom she has been consulting since 2020.

“We have to bear in mind Mira’s physique as effectively. She is ageing, the probabilities of accidents enhance with age. So we have now to watch out with the workload.

“Currently, her body is well. Small niggles here and there keep happening but nothing serious,” Sharma mentioned.

Apart from this 12 months’s Worlds and 2024 World Cup, a lifter additionally has to take part in three of the next occasions — the 2022 World Championships, the 2023 Continental Championships, the 2023 Grand Prix 1, the 2023 Grand Prix II and the 2024 Continental Championships.

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) will publish the Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR) of every weight class on the finish of the qualification interval.

The finest three performances on the qualifying occasions can be taken under consideration for last evaluation.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)