Moments after Mirabai Chanu endured India’s sixth heartbreak after finishing fourth in what was a tight four-way contest in the women’s 49kg weight division at the Paris Olympics, the star weightlifter pledged to work harder to ensure a strong comeback.

“I tried my best to win a medal for the country but I missed it today. It is a part of the game, we all sometimes win and sometimes lose. Next time I will work harder to win a medal for the country. I will try my best and will deliver my best performance in the next game,” Mirabai said.

The Manipuri lifter, who turned 30 on Thursday, lifted a total of 199 kgs (88 in snatch and 111 in clean and jerk) at the South Paris Arena to find herself just outside the podium places. China’s Hou Zhihui successfully defended her title with an overall lift of 206kg (89kg snatch + 117kg clean and jerk).

Hou Zhihui improved her clean and jerk Olympic record to 117kg and dramatically beat reigning European champion Mihaela Cambei of Romania, who lifted 205kg overall (93kg snatch + 112kg clean and jerk), on the final attempt of the event.

Hou Zhihui had previously achieved 116kg in clean and jerk at Tokyo 2020. The 27-year-old continues to hold the overall Olympic record at 210kg and also holds the snatch Olympic record after lifting 94kg in Tokyo.

Cambei, meanwhile, dominated the snatch round with a strong 93kg lift. She also set a new personal best of 112kg in clean and jerk to settle for silver here.

Surodchana Khambao of Thailand lifted 200kg (88kg snatch + 112kg clean and jerk) to push Mirabai out of the podium spots. The former world champion matched Mirabai’s effort in the snatch and went one notch higher in clean and jerk to take the bronze medal.

Competing in her third Olympics, the Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Indian began the snatch round with an 85kg lift on her first attempt. However, her second attempt of 88kg proved to be unsuccessful. Mirabai had initially marked 86kg on her second attempt before making the change to 88kg a few minutes later.

She matched her personal best of 88kg, a national record, on the final attempt in the snatch round. However, her effort was matched by Surodchana with both of them being ranked joint-third by the end of the snatch round. In comparison, Mirabai had lifted 87kg in the snatch round at Tokyo 2020.

Cambei took the lead at the end of the snatch round after successfully lifting 93kg on her final attempt. She lifted 89kg and 91kg on her first couple of attempts. Hou Zhihui, who made an Olympic record of 94kg in snatch at Tokyo 2020, could only manage 89kg in Paris. She unsuccessfully tried a 93kg lift on her final attempt.

Mirabai’s clean and jerk round began with a scare after she failed her first attempt of 111kg after marking a weight higher than the rest of the field. However, she went for the same lift immediately after and aced it on the second time asking to climb to second place along with Hou Zhihui.

Cambei continued to lead the standings after setting a new personal best of 112kg on her second clean and jerk attempt to record 205kg overall.

However, Surodchana Khambao lifted 112kg on her second attempt to record 200kg overall and push Mirabai out of the podium places. Mirabai’s failed first attempt came back to haunt her as she went for 114kg on her final lift and couldn’t clear the jerk to stay on 199kg overall.