Lifter Mirabai to train in US for Tokyo Olympics

NEW DELHI: India weightlifting medal prospect Mirabai Chanu will fly to St. Louis, USA, on Saturday to continue her training under renowned strength and conditioning coach, Aaron Horschig. She will be based there for 50 days and fly directly for the Tokyo Olympics.

Chanu’s US trip was cleared in a meeting of the government’s Mission Olympic Cell on Friday. It was decided Chanu, 26, should be immediately sent to the US as several nations have imposed travel restrictions on India due to the second wave of Covid-19 sweeping the country.

The 49kg lifter will be accompanied by national coach Vijay Sharma and assistant coach Sandip Kumar. The Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) has sanctioned around ₹71 lakh for her US stint. “It was felt there should be no delay in the matter. The flight tickets have been booked and she will travel to the US tomorrow,” informed an official present in the meeting.

A strong Olympic medal prospect, Chanu had a twomonth stint under Horschig, a former weightlifter, in the US last year that helped her sort out her lower back and shoulder issues. It went a long way in Chanu making a world record lift of 119 kg in clean and jerk at the Asian Championships recently, winning bronze with an overall lift of 205kg.

Chanu had been nursing a lower back problem since 2018 and it resurfaced last year during training. There was significant improvement following rehab under the supervision of Horschig. “After I started training in lockdown the back problem resurfaced. There is huge improvement after working with Dr Horschig. My training methods changed,” she said.