New Delhi: This Tuesday morning was like every other Tuesday morning for Mirabai Chanu. The injury-ravaged Tokyo silver medallist weightlifter began the day with a prayer before moving on to her practice drills. Known to carry a miniature temple with her, she never misses her Tuesday prayers.

“She does a rather long puja every Tuesday. It gives her energy and belief. I am more of a spiritual person and I don’t visit temples, but to watch her pray is quite endearing,” her coach Vijay Sharma had told HT before the duo flew to Paris, exactly a month before Chanu’s competition.

It’s not tough to imagine what Chanu would have wished for this Tuesday. Manipur, her home state in the grip of ethnic clashes, is always on her mind, as is the Hangzhou heartbreak. Staying injury-free is also high on her wishlist. But when she enters her zone -- aided by soft instrumentals -- the ever-smiling, soft-spoken, God-fearing lifter flips a switch. For those few seconds when she pauses before heaving double her bodyweight, she visualises the Paris podium. The pain of missing the Asian Games medal, one of her great regrets, takes a backseat, as does the world-class field she is usually up against.

“I imagine standing on the Paris podium. There is nothing else I see,” she had said in Patiala, months after returning to training. The moment has finally arrived to put that process to test. It won’t be easy, considering the injury-marred cycle that she has had.

“Our last training session was great. She is in prime shape and form and we are confident to notch a medal,” Sharma told HT from Paris. “Injuries don’t bother us, neither do failures. Itni baar gire hai, ab darr nai lagta (we have stumbled far too many times to be scared),” he added, referring to their failure at Rio Olympics and the spate of injuries that have chased his ward.

Chanu’s entry weight is listed as 200kgs, placing her alongside four others who have entered 200kgs or more among the 12 competitors. USA’s Jourdan Delacruz (200kg), Thailand’s Surodchana Khambao (200kg), Romania’s Valentina Cambei (205kg), and China’s Hou Zhihui (210kg) are the other lifters who have decided to go heavy. Despite the absence of North Korea’s Asian Games champion and current world record holder Ri Song Gum, the 49kg event promises to be a very competitive contest.

Considering that Chanu has lifted over 200kgs only once since Tokyo (202kgs) -- at the 2022 Commonwealth Games where she lifted 201kg (88kg+113kg) -- it will be a tall order for her. She returned to competitive action this April with a 12th-place finish at the IWF World Cup in Phuket, lifting a modest 184 kgs — 81kg snatch and 103 kg clean and jerk.

China’s defending champion Zhihui starts a runaway favourite. She took the gold in Tokyo with an Olympic record in snatch (94kg), clean and jerk (116kg), and total lift (210kg). As if to prove that it wasn’t an aberration, she hoisted 211kgs at the 2023 Worlds, 204kgs at the Asian Games, and 214kgs at the 2024 Phuket World Cup. With her mind and body conditioned for consistent 200kg lifts, a fully-fit, in-form Chinese will most certainly be out of reach for Chanu and the rest.

The battle for the second spot won’t be a cakewalk either. While Chanu touched 90 percent of her efficiency only last month, Romania’s current European champion Cambei logged in a solid 201kgs in Phuket in April. USA’s Delacruz also has a 200kg lift this cycle at the 2023 Worlds while 2021 world champion Khambao is expected to give a tough fight too.

“We don’t expect an easy contest but we have done the best we could. Mira is in great mental space and will do her best. At this stage, past doesn’t matter. We are confident of delivering another medal,” Sharma said. A day before she turns 30, that’ll be Chanu’s perfect birthday gift to herself.

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