Mirabai Chanu braves wrist injury, lack of training to lift National Games gold

The likes of Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, four-time Worlds medallist Bajrang Punia, three-time CWG champion Vinesh Phogat or All England Open finalist Lakshya Sen might be missing from action at the National Games Gujarat to give their injured and tired bodies much-needed rest. That wasn’t the case with Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Mirabai, who risked aggravating her left wrist injury sustained a week ago during one of her training sessions in NIS Patiala to clinch her first-ever National Games gold in the women’s 49kg category at the Mahatma Mandir Exhibition Centre on Friday.

The diminutive Manipuri weightlifter’s passage to the gold was smooth – she wasn’t troubled by any of her challengers in the eight-woman final field. But her wrist injury did play a role in letting go of the final attempt in snatch and clean & jerk sections. However, the gold was already decided in Mirabai's favour by that time. She lifted a total of 191kg (84kg snatch + 107kg clean & jerk) to finish on the top of the podium, followed by fellow Manipuri and two-time CWG gold medallist Khumukcham Sanjita Chanu (187kg) and Odisha’s Sneha Soren (169kg). Sanjita is on a comeback trail after her name was cleared of the doping charge by the international weightlifting federation (IWF) two years ago. In the process, Mirabai also secured Manipur’s first gold medal in the ongoing edition of the Games. “We had the MRI done on my injured left wrist. It happened during one of the training sessions in NIS Patiala while I was lifting heavy weights. Yes, I played through the injury and that’s why I didn’t attempt my final lifts. Proper recovery hasn’t been achieved and my physio is helping me in the rehabilitation,” Mirabai said.

So, didn’t she fear