The Manipuri girl, who was conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on Tuesday will also miss November's World Championships to be held at Turkmenistan
World and Commonwealth Games champion weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, who missed out on the last Asian Games in Jakarta due to a back injury, is eyeing an Olympic qualification through six World Weightlifting Championships to be held in 2019.
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The Manipuri girl, who was conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on Tuesday will also miss November's World Championships to be held at Turkmenistan. "I felt very sad to miss the Asian Games because it was my dream to win a gold there, but I'm targeting the 2020 Olympics," said Chanu on the sidelines of a promotional event where Edelweiss Group presented her and other athletes a life insurance cover of Rs 1 crore yesterday.
Well aware of the increasing competition, Chanu has decided to lift an additional 10kg. "I had lifted 194kg in the World Championships which gave me a gold medal [at Anaheim in United States last year]. In the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, I totalled 196kg. Now, I have to lift more than that because of some changes in the weight category. I now have to compete in the 49kg category instead of 48kg. If I lift around 210kg, I will be able to win gold in every competition. I want to improve my capacity by 10kg," said Chanu, 24.
She added: "Though I started training only last week, my rehab is still on. That's why I will not participate in the Turkmenistan competition. Now, I have six different World Championships on my hands in 2019. I need to make it count and earn my Olympics 2020 qualification."
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