Mirabai Chanu Ends 28-Year Wait for India in Asian Games Weightlifting

NAGoya, Sept 23: India’s Mirabai Chanu ended a 28-year wait for an Asian Games weightlifting medal by winning silver in the women’s 49kg category at the Aichi-Nagoya Games on Wednesday.

The 32 year old produced a total lift of 198kg, recording 87kg in the snatch and 111kg in the clean and jerk. Her performance placed her second behind North Korea’s Ri Song-gum, while Indonesia’s Wijayana Luluk Diani Tri claimed the bronze medal with a total of 191kg.

The medal completed a major gap in Chanu’s international record. She had previously won an Olympic silver medal, a world championship title and multiple Commonwealth Games gold medals, but an Asian Games podium finish had remained missing from her collection.

Chanu had come close at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, where she finished fourth. Her earlier appearance at the 2014 Asian Games ended with a ninth-place finish. The silver in Nagoya therefore marked a significant return to the podium at the continental event.

The result also ended India’s long wait for a medal in Asian Games weightlifting. The country’s previous medal in the discipline came in 1998, when Karnam Malleswari won silver at the Bangkok Games.

Chanu began her competition strongly in Nagoya, successfully completing all three of her snatch attempts and finishing the discipline with 87kg. She then lifted 111kg in the clean and jerk to reach her 198kg overall total.

The North Korean challenge proved decisive in the gold-medal battle. Ri Song-gum recorded a higher combined total to secure the top position, while Chanu’s performance was enough to keep India ahead of the Indonesian lifter in the medal standings.

For Chanu, the silver represented the culmination of several years of competition at the highest level. Her career has included difficult moments as well as major successes. At the Rio Olympics in 2016, she failed to register a valid total, but returned five years later to win Olympic silver in Tokyo. She later added another major chapter to her career with the Asian Games medal in Nagoya.

Speaking after her performance, Chanu said the Asian Games medal had been an important personal goal since she entered elite weightlifting. She also highlighted the strength of the Asian field, pointing to the presence of leading weightlifting nations such as North Korea and China.

The Nagoya medal adds another international achievement to Chanu’s record and gives India an important result in a discipline where the country had not reached the Asian Games podium for nearly three decades.

Her silver also contributed to India’s growing medal tally at the 2026 Asian Games, where the country has been competing across a wide range of disciplines in Aichi-Nagoya.

The result came on a busy day for the Indian contingent. Alongside weightlifting, Indian athletes were involved in badminton, shooting, wushu, hockey and several other events as the Games entered another round of medal competition.

Chanu’s achievement was particularly notable because of the history attached to the event. India had waited since Malleswari’s 1998 silver for another Asian Games weightlifting medal. The gap finally ended when Chanu completed her 198kg total in Nagoya.

The silver also means Chanu now has medals from the Olympics, World Championships, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, giving her a medal from each of the major competitions in which she has competed.

As the Aichi-Nagoya Games continue, Chanu’s performance provides India with another medal in a competition featuring some of Asia’s strongest sporting nations. Her result also adds to the country’s medal-winning campaign across multiple disciplines.

With the weightlifting competition completed for her, Chanu leaves Nagoya with a long-awaited Asian Games medal and another milestone in an already extensive international career.