Mirabai Chanu finally won the Asian Games medal that had eluded her throughout her career, taking silver in the women’s 49kg category in Nagoya on Wednesday. Her 198kg total also ended India’s 28-year wait for a weightlifting medal at the continental showpiece.
North Korea’s Ri Song Gum claimed her third successive Asian Games gold with a total of 215kg, while Indonesia’s Luluk Diana Tri Wijayana took bronze with 191kg. Chanu’s silver was India’s first weightlifting medal at the Asian Games since Karnam Malleswari’s silver in Bangkok in 1998.
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For Chanu, the result came after three very different Asian Games experiences. She finished ninth at Incheon in 2014, missed Jakarta in 2018 because of a back injury and was fourth at Hangzhou in 2023 after an injury during the clean and jerk disrupted her challenge.
She came into the competition with some momentum after winning her third straight Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow earlier this year. Chanu lifted 85kg in the snatch and 105kg in the clean and jerk there, but the Asian Games brought a stronger field, led by defending champion and world champion Ri.
HOW CHANU MADE HER MEDAL MOVE
Chanu kept herself in contention through the snatch, completing all three attempts and finishing at 87kg. Ri moved further ahead with a 94kg lift, leaving Chanu needing a strong clean and jerk sequence to stay in the medal positions.
The Indian opened with 107kg and then successfully lifted 111kg on her second attempt. That took her total to 198kg and gave her a sizeable cushion over Wijayana, who could not complete her 107kg clean and jerk attempt.
Ri was operating in a different bracket. She lifted 116kg before attempting 121kg, setting a world record and finishing with 215kg. Chanu could not challenge for gold, but her two successful clean and jerk lifts had already done enough to secure silver.
The medal was particularly significant given how close she had come three years earlier. Chanu finished fourth in Hangzhou with 191kg after an injury during the clean and jerk, missing the podium by a narrow margin.
28 YEARS AFTER MALLESWARI
India’s previous Asian Games weightlifting medal had come from Malleswari in 1998, when she won silver in Bangkok. No Indian weightlifter had stood on the podium at the continental Games since, making Chanu’s result the end of a 28-year gap.
It also completes an unusual omission from Chanu’s medal collection. She has won Olympic, World Championship and Commonwealth Games medals, including three consecutive Commonwealth Games golds, but the Asian Games podium had remained out of reach.
That changed in Nagoya. Chanu’s 198kg total was not enough to match Ri’s record-setting 215kg, but it was enough to put India back on the Asian Games weightlifting podium and give the 31-year-old her first medal at the event.
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