Mirabai Chanu ends wait for maiden Asian Games medal; bags silver in 49kg weightlifting event

Mirabai Chanu ended her Asian Games medal drought.

India’s Mirabai Chanu clinched a silver medal in the women’s 49kg weightlifting event at the Asian Games 2026 at the Nagoya City Trade and Industry Center on Wednesday, September 23. This marked her maiden medal at the continental tournament.

Chanu, competing at her third Asian Games, finished third in the snatch with a best lift of 87kg. Subsequently, she moved into second place with a best lift of 111 kg in the clean and jerk and finished the competition with a total lift of 198 kg.

Ri Song Gum clinched the gold medal. The North Korean weightlifter lifted 94kg in the snatch and 121kg in the clean and jerk, finishing with a total lift of 210kg – a new World Record. This marked her third consecutive Asian Games title.

The bronze medal went to Luluk Diana Tri Wijayana of Indonesia, who finished with a total lift of 191kg (88kg in the snatch and 103kg in the clean and jerk).

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Mirabai Chanu ends Asian Games medal wait

Wednesday’s medal ended Chanu’s decades-long wait for an Asian Games medal. Even though the star weightlifter won silver at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, she returned empty-handed from her three previous Asian Games appearances.

She finished ninth in her Asiad debut at the 2014 Incheon Games. A back injury forced her to withdraw from the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games. She then narrowly missed out on a podium finish at the Hangzhou 2022 Games, finishing fourth.

Now, her historic silver at the Aichi-Nagoya Games means Chanu is the first Indian weightlifter to clinch an Asian Games medal since Karnam Malleswari in 1998.

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