'Better not to send us sans preparation'
Mabia Akter Simanta, Bangladesh's South Asian Games gold medallist weightlifter, made her frustration public after failing to match her personal best score by two kilos in the Asian Games yesterday.
The 19-year-old, competing in 63kg category, lifted 77 kilos in snatch and 101 kilos in clean & jerk for a total of 178, which is two kilograms less than what she had lifted in the Gold coast Commonwealth Games earlier this year.
She tried to match her best by attempting to lift 103 kilograms in clean & jerk, one kilo more than her personal best in an attempt to match her overall best score, but failed in that attempt.
She finished sixth out of seven participants with the seventh competitor, Rakhi Halder of India, pulling out of the competition. Kim Hyo Sim of North Korea grabbed the gold medal in this event, lifting a total of 250 kilos (113kg, 137kg).
Mabia was visibly frustrated with her performance as she felt that her month-and-a-half's preparation was barely enough to compete in tournaments such as these.
“I have nothing to say. I am disappointed and frustrated,” she said, after being initially unwilling to say anything.
The weightlifter from Dhaka did not hide her frustration, laying the blame squarely on the authorities.
“I got the opportunity to carry the national flag at the opening ceremony, which is a big honour for me” she said. “But if you talk about competition, I'm here on my own and only with the help of my coach. No one else helped me.”
The weightlifter has been improving continuously ever since she won a gold medal in the 2016 South Asian Games, where she lifted 149 kilos, but the Asian Games is a much bigger and tougher platform. The fifth-place finisher in yesterday's event lifted 200 kilograms, 22 kilos more than what Mabia did.
The 19-year-old said she was demoralised and embarrassed by this loss and that it is better not to send athletes to compete in this manner.
“It's better to not send athletes like these without enough preparation. I wanted to better my score, but here I am lifting two kilos less than my best. This kind of performance demoralises the athletes,” Mabia said.