Key Highlights:
- Mirabai Chanu won a silver medal in women's 49kg weightlifting with a total lift of 198kg, her first-ever Asian Games medal.
- She becomes India's first Asian Games weightlifting medallist since Karnam Malleshwari's silver in 1998.
- North Korea's Ri Song-gum won gold with 210kg, while Indonesia's Wijayana Luluk Diani Tri took bronze with 191kg.
- The medal completes Chanu's collection across the Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.
- Her Asian Games journey included a ninth-place finish in 2014, an injury-forced absence in 2018, and a heartbreaking fourth in 2023 before this breakthrough.
A Long-Awaited Asian Games Medal
Ace Indian lifter Mirabai Chanu finally won her maiden Asian Games medal after bagging a silver in the women's 49kg weightlifting event at the Asian Games on Wednesday, a result that had eluded her across multiple previous editions of the Games.
The Winning Lift
The 32-year-old Indian produced a total lift of 198kg, comprising an 87kg snatch and 111kg clean and jerk, at the Nagoya City Trade and Industry Centre to secure the silver and become India's first Asian Games weightlifting medallist since Karnam Malleshwari won silver in Bangkok in 1998.
Gold and Bronze Winners
Two-time Asian Games and world champion Ri Song-gum of North Korea clinched the gold with a total of 210kg (Snatch 94kg, Clean & Jerk 121kg), while Indonesia's Wijayana Luluk Diani Tri took bronze after lifting 191kg (87kg in snatch, Clean & Jerk 103kg), rounding out a podium featuring three distinct nations.
Completing a Rare Medal Collection
A medal in Aichi-Nagoya completed Mirabai's collection of medals across the three major multi-sport events, the Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. Moreover, after Karnam Malleshwari, Mirabai became the second Indian weightlifter to win a medal in all major international weightlifting events: the Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championships, and Asian and Commonwealth Championships, placing her achievement within an exceptionally exclusive historical company.
A Decorated Career With One Missing Piece
Mirabai has an Olympic silver, a world title and three Commonwealth Games gold medals to her name, but the Asian Games podium had remained out of reach until Wednesday, making this particular medal the missing piece in an already highly decorated career.
A History of Near Misses at the Asian Games
At the 2014 Asian Games, she finished ninth on her debut. At the 2018 edition in Jakarta, she was forced to miss the competition due to injury. She appeared to have another opportunity in Hangzhou in 2023, only to finish a heartbreaking fourth after a thigh injury hampered her clean and jerk attempts in the final, a string of setbacks that made this latest medal all the more significant given how long it had taken to materialise.
A Fitting Return to Japan
Three years later, Chanu returned to Japan, a country where she bagged her Olympic silver, and finally delivered the elusive Asian Games medal she had been chasing since 2014, adding a symbolic dimension to the location of this long-awaited breakthrough.
A Career Defined by Resilience
Her journey has been marked by setbacks as much as success. At the Rio 2016 Olympics, she failed to register a valid lift in the competition. Five years later, she responded emphatically at the Tokyo Olympics, winning the silver medal and establishing herself among the leading names in world weightlifting, a trajectory that reflects her consistent ability to bounce back from disappointment throughout her career.
Details of Her Winning Campaign
Chanu opened her campaign with an 87kg snatch and carried the same weight into her successful clean-and-jerk effort before finishing with 198kg overall, a controlled and consistent performance that ultimately secured her the silver medal.
Ending a 28-Year Wait
The silver also extended India's growing medal presence in Nagoya and brought an end to a 28-year wait for a weightlifting medal at the Asian Games, marking a significant milestone not just for Mirabai Chanu personally, but for Indian weightlifting as a whole at this level of international competition.
Key Highlights:
- Mirabai Chanu won a silver medal in women's 49kg weightlifting with a total lift of 198kg, her first-ever Asian Games medal.
- She becomes India's first Asian Games weightlifting medallist since Karnam Malleshwari's silver in 1998.
- North Korea's Ri Song-gum won gold with 210kg, while Indonesia's Wijayana Luluk Diani Tri took bronze with 191kg.
- The medal completes Chanu's collection across the Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.
- Her Asian Games journey included a ninth-place finish in 2014, an injury-forced absence in 2018, and a heartbreaking fourth in 2023 before this breakthrough.
A Long-Awaited Asian Games Medal
Ace Indian lifter Mirabai Chanu finally won her maiden Asian Games medal after bagging a silver in the women's 49kg weightlifting event at the Asian Games on Wednesday, a result that had eluded her across multiple previous editions of the Games.
The Winning Lift
The 32-year-old Indian produced a total lift of 198kg, comprising an 87kg snatch and 111kg clean and jerk, at the Nagoya City Trade and Industry Centre to secure the silver and become India's first Asian Games weightlifting medallist since Karnam Malleshwari won silver in Bangkok in 1998.
Gold and Bronze Winners
Two-time Asian Games and world champion Ri Song-gum of North Korea clinched the gold with a total of 210kg (Snatch 94kg, Clean & Jerk 121kg), while Indonesia's Wijayana Luluk Diani Tri took bronze after lifting 191kg (87kg in snatch, Clean & Jerk 103kg), rounding out a podium featuring three distinct nations.
Completing a Rare Medal Collection
A medal in Aichi-Nagoya completed Mirabai's collection of medals across the three major multi-sport events, the Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. Moreover, after Karnam Malleshwari, Mirabai became the second Indian weightlifter to win a medal in all major international weightlifting events: the Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championships, and Asian and Commonwealth Championships, placing her achievement within an exceptionally exclusive historical company.
A Decorated Career With One Missing Piece
Mirabai has an Olympic silver, a world title and three Commonwealth Games gold medals to her name, but the Asian Games podium had remained out of reach until Wednesday, making this particular medal the missing piece in an already highly decorated career.
A History of Near Misses at the Asian Games
At the 2014 Asian Games, she finished ninth on her debut. At the 2018 edition in Jakarta, she was forced to miss the competition due to injury. She appeared to have another opportunity in Hangzhou in 2023, only to finish a heartbreaking fourth after a thigh injury hampered her clean and jerk attempts in the final, a string of setbacks that made this latest medal all the more significant given how long it had taken to materialise.
A Fitting Return to Japan
Three years later, Chanu returned to Japan, a country where she bagged her Olympic silver, and finally delivered the elusive Asian Games medal she had been chasing since 2014, adding a symbolic dimension to the location of this long-awaited breakthrough.
A Career Defined by Resilience
Her journey has been marked by setbacks as much as success. At the Rio 2016 Olympics, she failed to register a valid lift in the competition. Five years later, she responded emphatically at the Tokyo Olympics, winning the silver medal and establishing herself among the leading names in world weightlifting, a trajectory that reflects her consistent ability to bounce back from disappointment throughout her career.
Details of Her Winning Campaign
Chanu opened her campaign with an 87kg snatch and carried the same weight into her successful clean-and-jerk effort before finishing with 198kg overall, a controlled and consistent performance that ultimately secured her the silver medal.
Ending a 28-Year Wait
The silver also extended India's growing medal presence in Nagoya and brought an end to a 28-year wait for a weightlifting medal at the Asian Games, marking a significant milestone not just for Mirabai Chanu personally, but for Indian weightlifting as a whole at this level of international competition.