Mirabai Chanu triggered excitement in the Indian camp by lifting 82kg in snatch, which was the third best. But, she had ‘no lift’ in clean and jerk, and the Indian hopes of a weightlifting medal evaporated on Saturday.
Mirabai, competing in the 48kg section, failed with lifts of 104kg and 106 kg.
Having bettered Kunjarani Devi’s National record with a total lift of 192kg with 85kg in snatch, Mirabai had helped build hopes.
The silver went at 192kg and bronze at 188kg as Sopita Tanasan of Thailand captured the gold with a total lift of 200kg.
Yet, it is one thing to perform at home and quite another in the international arena, especially the Olympics.
In the absence of the Chinese and Russians, there was a lot of logic in the heightened hopes.
Mirabai does have a Commonwealth Games silver and SAF Games gold, but is yet to mature into a world-class performer on the big stage.
She cleared 82kg in snatch on the second attempt and could not lift 84kg.
She had lifted 85kg in snatch and 107kg in clean and jerk for the National record score at home.
The results: Women, 48kg: 1. Sopita Tanasan (Tha) (92, 108) 200; 2. Sri Wahyuni Agustiani (Ina) (85, 107) 192; 3. Hiromi Miyake (Jpn) (81, 107) 188.
