Olympic silver medallist Saikhom Mirabai Chanu is leaving no stone unturned in her bid to win a maiden Asian Games medal, with weekly video consultations with American strength and conditioning coach Dr Aaron Horschig forming part of her injury-prevention programme.
Mirabai, who returned from Glasgow with her third Commonwealth Games gold, has resumed training at Modinagar under coach Vijay Sharma. She said she holds a video call with Horschig every Thursday to review training, recovery and fitness.
The 32-year-old has been plagued by injuries in her previous Asian Games campaigns, finishing fourth at Hangzhou in 2022 after a hip and thigh injury and missing the 2018 Jakarta Games due to a back injury.
Despite winning the 48kg gold in Glasgow with a 190kg total, Chanu said the Asian Games would provide a much tougher test, with leading lifters from China, North Korea, Japan and Thailand expected to compete.
Mirabai said she returned to training immediately after the Commonwealth Games and has made the Asian Games her sole focus. She will lead India’s five-member weightlifting contingent at the September 19–October 4 Games in Aichi-Nagoya, where the weightlifting competition is scheduled from September 22 to 28.
Her personal best is 205kg (89kg snatch, 116kg clean and jerk), while she finished fourth at the Paris Olympics, missing bronze by one kilogram.
