Mirabai Chanu lifted Indian spirits with a silver at Tokyo

But weightlifting, with its history of decades of rampant doping, faces an uncertain Olympic future

Mirabai Chanu’s heart-warming tale of redemption at the Tokyo Olympics was the defining moment for Indian weightlifting in a reasonably successful 2021 but the sport itself faced an uncertain future globally with long-standing governance and doping-related problems threatening its place in the Olympics going forward.

Mirabai, a former world champion, had left the 2016 Rio Olympics in tears after failing to log a legitimate lift but five years on, she displayed brilliant composure for a historic silver medal.

This, despite the fact that her plans took a hit when the Olympics were postponed by a year, leading to her schedule going haywire amid the COVID-19 pandemic.