Mirabai Chanu finally ended a career-long wait, claiming silver in the women’s 49kg weightlifting event at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Wednesday — her first-ever medal at the continental showpiece.
The 32-year-old Tokyo Olympics silver medallist lifted a total of 198kg, combining an 87kg snatch with a 111kg clean and jerk, to secure the podium finish she had chased across three previous editions. North Korea’s Ri Song-gum, the reigning world champion, took gold with a total of 210kg, while Indonesia’s Wijayana Luluk Diani Tri claimed bronze with 191kg.
The medal also carries historic weight for Indian weightlifting, ending a 28-year drought in the sport at the Asian Games since Karnam Malleswari’s silver at Bangkok 1998.
Chanu had missed the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games due to a back injury and finished fourth at Hangzhou 2023 after a thigh injury disrupted her clean and jerk attempts. Wednesday’s result finally closed that gap in an otherwise decorated career spanning an Olympic silver, three World Championship medals, an Asian Championships medal, and three Commonwealth Games golds.
An emotional Chanu said the medal brought her a sense of completion after years of setbacks. “There was pressure, but not that much pressure that I could not win a medal,” she said after the event. “I had the belief in me that I would be able to win.”
Fellow Indian lifter Gyaneshwari Yadav competed in the women’s 53kg category later in the day but finished eighth, narrowly missing the podium with a total lift of 195kg.