Tokyo Olympics: Chinese Weightlifter Hou to be tested by anti-doping authorities, Mirabai Chanu stands a chance to get medal upgrade


Tokyo Olympics: Chinese Weightlifter Hou to be tested by anti-doping authorities, Mirabai Chanu stands a chance to get medal upgrade

Mirabai Chanu

Mirabai Chanu created history on Day 2 of Tokyo Olympics, as she bagged a silver medal in Women’s 49kg weightlifting event. The 26-year-old buried her ghosts from the Rio Olympics, and opened India’s medal tally in Tokyo.

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Mirabai Chanu managed to lift a total of 202kg, which includes 87kg in the snatch category, and 115kg in clean and jerk, in which she holds the world record, set at the Asian Championships this year.

China’s Z.H.Hou claimed the gold medal in the event, as she lifted a total of 210kg, and also set a new Olympic record. She entered the event as the certain favorite, and was the world number one in her category.

However, according to the latest updates from Tokyo, Hou’s sample will be retested by anti-doping authorities at the Olympic Games. This means that there is a real possibility that Mirabai Chanu’s medal gets upgraded to gold, if there is something suspicious found in Hou’s second test.

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A real possibility of Mirabai Chanu’s medal being upgraded to gold

As a standard protocol, the samples of all competing athletes are collected before the Olympic Games begin. Moreover, the samples of all the medalists in their respective events are collected within one hour of them winning a medal.

Mirabai Chanu’s sample came back clean, which was the reason she was allowed to depart for India. However, there was something suspicious found in Z.H.Hou’s sample, and as a result, she will have to get retested on Monday. The Chinese is held back in Tokyo, for fresh collection of her sample.

As a result of the latest developments, Mirabai Chanu could yet win a gold medal, if Hou’s samples do not come back clean even on the second go. The Chinese weightlifter will be stripped of her gold medal, which means India could have their first gold in over 13 years. Last time an Indian won a gold medal at Olympics, it was Abhinav Bindra who won the Men’s 10m air rifle event in Beijing 2008.

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