Injuries are mentally challenging, delighted to be back in competition: Mirabai Chanu

New Delhi: She heaved her lowest weight in years at the World Cup recently but Olympic silver-medallist Mirabai Chanu is actually quite chuffed about her performance as she managed it on the back of just one month’s training after enduring a challenging injury breakdown.

With only four months to go for the Paris Olympics, Chanu, who was competing in her first tournament since her Asian Games breakdown, finished 12th at the IWF World Cup with a total effort of 184kg (81kg+103kg), a whopping 33kg behind

China’s Hou Zhihui, who will look to defend her Olympic title.

“I was delighted to be back in competition. Everything is okay now, recovery is good. I’m training at 70 per cent,” Chanu told PTI.

After watching her opponents raise the bar by breaking records in the 49kg weight class, Chanu’s confidence received a significant boost when she heaved the barbell after just a month of training.

“It felt very good. After the injury (at Asian Games), I lifted weights after 4-5 months and I got a lot of confidence,” she said.

“Weightlifting is different, there is always fear as to what will happen. I felt confident that I was able to make a recovery so fast,” added Chanu, who is exclusively managed by IOS Sports.

An Asian Games medal is the only one that Chanu, who has a personal best of 88kg in snatch and 119kg

in clean and jerk, hasn’t been able to get her hands on. She has stood on the podium at the Olympics, World Championships, Commonwealth Games and the Asian Championships.

In the 2022 edition of the continental showpiece, she not only missed a medal in Hangzhou but also suffered hip tendonitis, with less than a year to go for the Olympics.

What ensued was a dark and challenging period for the 29-year-old as

she could only do upper-body exercises and relied on her mother, who travelled to Patiala, for emotional

support.