Ace Indian weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu has departed for Tokyo 2020, which is scheduled to begin from July 23, after completing her final bit of preparation here at St. Louis, United States of America.
Mirabai underwent a 50-day training in the United States, under the watchful eyes of national coach Vijay Sharma and assistant coach Sandip Kumar, which was sanctioned by the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), as per Olympics.com.
The 49 kg category-weightlifter will be accompanied by her coaches Sharma, Kumar, and Pramod Sharma along with physiotherapist Aalap Javadekar for the mega event.
This was her second stint in the US after undergoing a two-month stint under strength and conditioning coach, Dr. Aaron Horschig, last year. Her lower back and shoulder issues were addressed during the previous stint.
Tokyo Olympics will be Chanu's second appearance on the big stage as she had earlier qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics in the women's 48 kg category. However, she failed to finish the event as she failed to lift the weight in any of her three attempts in the clean & jerk section.
However, in 2017, she was able to redeem herself as she won the Gold medal in the Women's 48 kg category by lifting a competition record 194 kg in total (85 kg snatch and 109 kg clean & jerk) in the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships held at Anaheim, CA, United States.
She then won gold in the 2018 Commonwealth Games and bronze in Clean and Jerk at 49 kg Category in the 2019 Asian Weightlifting Championships. Mirabai would now be hoping to bury the ghosts of the past at the showpiece this time by lifting the bar higher.
( With inputs from ANI )
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