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Dubai: The one medal missing from Mirabai Chanu’s collection is missing no longer.
The Olympic silver medallist won silver in the women’s 49kg category at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Wednesday, lifting a total of 198kg. It is her first Asian Games medal in three attempts, and India’s first in weightlifting at the Games in 28 years.
‘Thank you all the fans’
Chanu posted her reaction on Instagram, tagging her longtime coach Vijay Sharma.
“I am happy on achieving another milestone of my career with Silver medal at Asian Games 2026,” she wrote.
She thanked the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the Weightlifting Federation of India, the Sports Authority of India, Olympic Gold Quest, Manipur Police, IOS Sports and her sponsors, before singling out Sharma.
“Also, a special thanks to my Coach Vijay Sharma sir and members of support staff for their tremendous support and motivation. Thank you all the fans for your love, support and blessings.”
How she did it
Chanu was clinical in the snatch, clearing 83kg, 85kg and 87kg without difficulty across three attempts, which left her in third place at the halfway point.
In the clean and jerk she opened with 107kg, then improved to 111kg on her second attempt. She did not take a third lift. Her combined 198kg moved her into second.
North Korea’s Ri Song Gum took gold with a Games record 215kg, her third consecutive Asian Games title in the category. Indonesia’s Luluk Diana Tri Wijayana finished third with 191kg.
Twenty-eight years
The last Indian weightlifter to reach an Asian Games podium was Karnam Malleswari, who won silver at Bangkok in 1998.
Chanu’s medal is India’s 15th in weightlifting at the Games, and the first in nearly three decades.
It also makes her only the second Indian weightlifter after Malleswari to win medals at every major international competition, adding the Asian Games to her Olympic silver, World Championship medals and Commonwealth Games titles.
Third time asking
The continental event has been the hardest for her by some distance.
Chanu first competed at the Asian Games in 2014 in Incheon, aged 19, finishing ninth. She missed the 2018 edition in Jakarta with a back injury. At Hangzhou in 2023 she came fourth with 191kg, her hopes ending when she hurt her right thigh going for 117kg in the clean and jerk. That setback cost her five months of rehabilitation.
Speaking to AFP earlier this month, the 32-year-old said the goal felt close and that she would not let go of the chance to round off her career with an Asian Games medal.
The coach beside her
Sharma has worked with Chanu since 2014, through her 2017 world title, her Tokyo Olympic silver and three Commonwealth Games golds.
“Training with him, I saw instant improvement in my technique and output,” she has said, adding that he supported her even in her lowest moments, including coming home without a medal. Sharma calls her his ideal student, and says he tells other athletes to copy her discipline.
In a sport repeatedly hit by doping scandals, Chanu has never failed a test. “Some athletes do take shortcuts to success but I advise youngsters to put in more work to get results,” she has said. “Doping gives a bad name to weightlifting and India.”
A busy year
The silver caps a heavy season. Chanu won gold in the 48kg category at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July, her third consecutive Commonwealth title, then switched back up to 49kg for Nagoya within two months.
Congratulations came from across Indian sport and government, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha.
