Mirabai Chanu to lead Indian contingent at World Weightlifting Championships 2023 in Riyadh

Olympic silver medalist Mirabai Chanu will be leading the Indian contingent at the World Weightlifting Championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Riyadh event will be a qualifying event for the 2024 Paris Olympics and will be held from September 4 to 17.

The five-member Indian contingent will be fighting out in the ring to bag a seat in the Olympics. Meanwhile, Mirabai Chanu will be competing in women’s 49 kg category and will be aiming for gold. She won gold in 2017 meet at Anaheim, while she had to settle for silver last year in Bogota.

Moreover, 2021 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships gold medal winner, Bindyarani Devi will also be taking part in the women’s 55 kg event.

Chanu and Devi are currently undergoing training at St Louis’ SQUAT University under Dr Aron Horschig.

On the other hand, the men’s weightlifting team consists of Achinta Sheuli, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champion. He will be taking part in the 73 kg category. The men’s team also includes national-level champion Narayana Ajith and Shubham Todkar.

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