As India’s Mirabai Chanu decided to give the World Championships a miss, her Chinese rival Jiang Huihua made the most of the opportunity. She broke the Indian’s world record in the clean and jerk by lifting a massive 120 kg.
Mirabai Chanu, the Olympic silver medallist had held the record previously by lifting 119 kg in the women’s 49 kg category. She achieved the feat at the 2021 Asian Championships. On Tuesday, apart from breaking the clean-and-jerk world record, the Chinese girl made the overall world record as well with a total lift of 215 kg. With that, she surpassed compatriot and Olympic gold medalist Hou Zhihui’s 213 kg.
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Huihua lifted 95kg in the snatch to claim the top honours in the marquee event. Meanwhile, Mirabai Chanu, who is a possible medal contender at the 2024 Olympics, had withdrawn from the championship to focus on the Asian Games. The Asiad begins on September 24 in China where Olympic quotas will be up for grabs.
Shubham surprises with performance
On the other hand, Shubham Todkar finished third in the group D of the 61 kg competition. He lifted a total of 269kg (119kg+150kg), which was six kg better than his Asian Championships effort (263kg). Also, it was 10kg heavier than his 259kg lift that fetched him a gold medal at the Commonwealth Championships.
The lifters in the competition are assigned groups based on their entry. The lifters with the highest entry weights are placed in Group A, followed by B and so on.
The 2023 World Championships is one of the two compulsory qualifying events for the Paris Olympics. An athlete is required to participate in both the events. That was reason why Mirabai Chanu only appeared for the weigh-in.
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