“4th place curse continues” - Netizens react as Mirabai Chanu falls short of a podium finish in women’s 49kg weightlifting
Indian weightlifting star and Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Saikhom Mirabai Chanu finished in fourth place in the women’s 49kg weightlifting event in the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics.
Chanu’s result was the latest in a string of fourth-placed finishes for Indian athletes in this year’s Summer Olympic Games, with Manu Bhaker (women’s 25m rapid fire pistol), Arjun Babuta (men’s 10m air rifle), Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat (mixed team archery), Lakshya Sen (men’s badminton singles), and Anantjeet Singh and Maheshwari Chauhan (mixed skeet) among those who finished in the fourth spot in their respective events.
Netizens took to social media to express their bewilderment at yet another fourth-placed heartbreak for a medal-hopeful in the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics. One fan called the Indian athletes’ near-misses in terms of securing a podium finish at Paris a 'curse’, writing:
“4th place curse continues.”
“If someone asks me how was India’s olympic performance in 2024 I will just say 4th position,” one user wrote.
“Look for someone who would stay with you forever like 4th position is staying with Indian athletes,” one fan humorously wrote on the social media platform X.
The fourth-placed jokes kept coming in from social media users, with one post reading:
“If only three people are playing, then there is every possibility that we will still come fourth.”
“Even a "4" hit by Indian batsman was annoying me today,” another user posted.
However, among the despair with the fourth-placed finish of Mirabai Chanu, one netizen took a positive outlook regarding the same, writing:
“Another 4th position finish for an #Indian. Imagine all these turning to silver or bronze in #Olympics2028.”
Mirabai Chanu misses out on bronze medal by 1kg
Mirabai Chanu, who was one of the few remaining medal contenders for India in the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics, set the tone for a podium finish with a perfect lift in her first attempt of 85kg in the Snatch round.
The 29-year-old weightlifter then failed to lift 88kg in her second attempt and had to wait till her third try in the Snatch round to achieve the target. With a best attempt of 88kg in Snatch, she was in the third spot in the table going into the Clean-and-Jerk round.
However, in the second round, Mirabai Chanu’s plans started to fall apart, as she fouled in her first attempt at lifting 111kg. However, the Commonwealth Games gold medalist achieved her target in the second try, taking her total to 199kg.
However, Mirabai Chanu failed to achieve her Tokyo 2020 best result of 202kg this time around, as her final attempt of 114kg resulted in a foul, and she dropped to the fourth spot behind Surodchana Khambao of Thailand, who finished with 200kg.