Mirabai Chanu To Miss Asian Weightlifting Championships 2024; Yet To Recover From Hip Injury

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Mirabai Chanu is yet to recover from her hip injury and will miss the Asian Weightlifting Championships 2024 in February. The 2020 Olympic silver medallist, who competes in the 49kg category, is still recovering from a hip tendinitis injury since last October.

Mirabai Chanu, who picked up the injury during the Asian Games 2023, did enter her name for the ongoing IWF Grand Prix II -- for ranking and qualification purposes of the 2024 Paris Olympics -- but didn't lift any weight at the tournament in Doha, Qatar.

Mirabai Chanu was then hoping to get fit by the Asian Weightlifting Championships 2024, which will be held in Tashkent on February 3-10. "I will not participate in the Asian Championship this time. Instead, I will participate in the World Cup," Mirabai Chanu told PTI on Tuesday.

"Right now because of injury, I have not planned for a trip abroad. But most likely in February, I will travel to the USA to my physiotherapist to do muscle strengthening and some high-performance training.

"I feel more comfortable with my trainer in the US to do training. He helps me a lot, my overall performance also gets better. A foreign coach is not needed. A good physiotherapist can help you train well."

Missing the Asian Championships will not hamper Chanu's qualification chance. The 29-year-old is currently ranked second in the Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR). The list will be updated after the conclusion of the Grand Prix II.

"I am still in rehab at Patiala. But I am trying my best to change the colour of the medal this time around and give my best for sure to make the Indian flag fly high in Paris."

Under the Paris Olympic qualification rules, a lifter has to compulsorily compete in the 2023 World Championships and the 2024 World Cup, slated from March 31 to April 11 in Phuket, Thailand.

Apart from the above, the lifter also has to participate in three of the following events - the 2022 World Championships, the 2023 and 2024 Continental Championships, the 2023 Grand Prix I and the 2023 Grand Prix II.

Chanu, who is undergoing rehab in Patiala, is also planning to travel to the USA in February to work with Dr. Aaron Horschig, a former weightlifter-turned-physical therapist and strength and conditioning coach in the US. Chanu has been consulting Horschig since 2020.