Olympic medallist Mirabai Chanu finally filled the only major gap in her glittering international career Wednesday, winning silver in the women’s 49kg weightlifting event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games and ending India’s 28-year wait for a medal in the sport at the continental showpiece.
The 32-year-old produced a combined lift of 198kg, comprising 87kg in the snatch and 111kg in the clean and jerk, to finish second behind North Korea’s Ri Song Gum, who delivered a world record-breaking performance for gold. Indonesia’s Luluk Diana Tri Wijayana claimed bronze with a total of 191kg.
For Chanu, the medal completed a remarkable collection that already included an Olympic silver, World Championships gold and silver medals, Commonwealth Games titles and an Asian Championships medal.
Three clean snatches
Chanu began the competition confidently, successfully completing all three of her snatch attempts. She opened with 83kg, followed it with 85kg and then lifted 87kg on her third attempt to remain firmly in medal contention.
The Indian entered the clean and jerk portion in third position and opened with a successful 107kg attempt. She then cleared 111kg on her second attempt, taking her combined total to 198kg and moving into the silver-medal position.
North Korea’s Ri, however, was in a class of her own. The two-time world champion lifted 94kg in the snatch and 121kg in the clean and jerk for a combined 215kg, breaking world records during a dominant performance.
Ri’s victory also gave her a third consecutive Asian Games weightlifting gold.
Missing medal secured
For Chanu, the significance of the silver went well beyond the colour of the medal. Despite being one of India’s most decorated weightlifters, an Asian Games podium finish had repeatedly eluded her.
She finished ninth on her Asian Games debut at Incheon in 2014 before missing the 2018 Jakarta Games because of a back injury. At Hangzhou in 2023, she came agonisingly close to the podium but finished fourth after sustaining an injury during the competition.
Three years later in Nagoya, Chanu finally secured the medal she had been chasing for more than a decade.
The achievement also made her only the second Indian weightlifter after Karnam Malleswari to win medals across the Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championships, Asian Championships and Commonwealth Championships.
India’s 28-year wait ends
Chanu’s silver was India’s first weightlifting medal at the Asian Games since Malleswari finished second at Bangkok in 1998. Her medal also extended a career that has made her the most successful Indian weightlifter of her generation. Chanu won the world title in 2017 and followed it with an Olympic silver at the Tokyo Games. She has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals.
The Asian Games, however, had remained the one major competition missing from her collection. Wednesday’s performance changed that. Against a field led by a record-breaking Ri, Chanu remained consistent across both sections of the competition and secured the silver that had eluded her through two previous Asian Games appearances.