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NEW DELHI: There is little left for Saikhom Mirabai Chanu to conquer at the Commonwealth Games.A record-extending third consecutive CWG gold medal in Glasgow has only strengthened her status as the undisputed queen of Commonwealth weightlifting. Add the silver she won in her debut Games in 2014, and Mirabai now stands as the most successful weightlifting athlete in CWG history. Yet, less than 24 hours after standing atop the podium once again, the Tokyo Olympic silver medallist had already turned the page.“The very next day after winning gold, I started preparing for the Asian Games. I started training the next day itself,” Mirabai told TOI upon her return to India on Sunday afternoon. For the 32-year-old, the celebrations are over. The focus has shifted completely to the one medal that has remained painfully out of reach throughout her glittering career — an Asian Games podium finish.“The upcoming Games in Japan are very important for me. I don’t have an Asiad medal and I want to win one. Before every Asiad, I have either suffered an injury or something has happened because of which I missed out on a medal. This time I have to overcome that. My focus is purely on the event. That’s the one title I desperately want to win,” she said.Having carried Indian weightlifting on her shoulders for more than a decade while battling recurring injuries, Mirabai knows opportunities are becoming increasingly precious.“I am not thinking whether this will be my last Asiad or not. But I will compete like this is the best opportunity I have to win a medal…like this is the only Asiad I have. Future competitions can wait. Right now, the Aich-Nagoya Games offers me the best chance. For me, it is a make-or-break moment.”Those words carry the weight of a career shaped as much by injuries as medals.The build-up to Glasgow was anything but straightforward. Mirabai won gold at the National Championships in Modinagar in Feb, setting national records in the process, but picked up a shoulder injury during the competition. The setback forced her to miss the Asian Championships as she stepped away from competition for months to allow her body to recover.Her comeback, however, was vintage Mirabai.Competing in Glasgow after months away from the platform, she comfortably lifted a Games record total of 190kg — 85kg in snatch and 105kg in clean and jerk — to clinch India’s first gold of this edition of the Games. More importantly, she achieved what no other weightlifter has managed before by winning three successive CWG gold. It was the performance of a champion who understood the bigger picture.Mirabai admitted she deliberately avoided exhausting herself in Glasgow, preserving both her body and energy for the much bigger challenge that awaits in Japan.“I preserved myself during the CWG. My focus was always on the Asiad. Now I have to improve my performance level. The competition there will be much tougher.”That challenge will be formidable. Olympic champion Hou Zhihui of China, the powerful North Korean lifters and Thailand’s Surodchana Khambao are likely to headline a world-class field where every kilogram can separate the medal winners from the rest.“I have to train harder. China, North Korea and Thailand have very strong weightlifters. I need to raise my performance several notches. I have to prepare more and train harder.”Unlike previous major championships, Mirabai will remain in India for the final phase of her preparations under long-time coach Vijay Sharma.“There isn’t much time before the Games. We cannot go abroad now. I will train here in India under Vijay sir. I will follow the same routine as I do before every major championship. Nothing special, but my performance level has to improve.”Years of competing at the highest level have also taught Mirabai to respect her body’s limits.“I understand my body much better now. I know how my mind and body react. I have learnt from injuries and experience. That understanding is very important.”Beyond the Games lies another major transition. With the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) scrapping the women’s 49kg division for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, Mirabai will eventually have to move up to the new 53kg category — another challenge in an already extraordinary career. But that is a story for another day. For now, India’s most decorated Commonwealth weightlifter has only one destination in mind. “This Games is the biggest moment for me. I have to come back with a medal at any cost. I don’t want to let this opportunity go.”
