Mirabai Chanu’s wait for Asiad medal ends with silver win in Aichi-Nagoya | Asian Games 2026

Mirabai Chanu finally ended her long wait for an Asian Games medal, winning silver in the women’s 49kg weightlifting event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday. The Olympic silver medallist lifted a combined 198kg to finish second behind North Korea’s Ri Song Gum, who claimed the gold medal.

Chanu’s silver marks her first podium finish at the Asian Games after she missed out in her previous two appearances. She finished ninth at the 2014 Incheon Games and was forced to miss the 2018 edition because of injury, before narrowly missing a medal with a fourth-place finish at Hangzhou in 2023.

A medal that had eluded Chanu

Chanu made her Asian Games debut at Incheon in 2014, finishing ninth in the women’s 48kg category. She missed the 2018 Jakarta Games because of a back injury, before returning at Hangzhou in 2023, where she finished fourth in the 49kg event.

The Hangzhou campaign ended in disappointment after Chanu competed despite a thigh injury. The result left her without an Asian Games medal despite having already established herself as one of India’s most successful weightlifters on the global stage.

Her record includes an Olympic silver medal, a World Championships gold and three Commonwealth Games gold medals. The Asian Games, however, had remained unfinished business.

Silver adds another chapter to decorated career

The Aichi-Nagoya medal comes after another successful season for Chanu. She won her third consecutive Commonwealth Games gold earlier this year, lifting 190kg in Glasgow with an 85kg snatch and a 105kg clean and jerk.

The Asian Games presented a different challenge, with Chanu competing against some of Asia’s leading lifters in the 49kg category. North Korea’s Ri Song Gum won gold, while Chanu secured silver with her 198kg total.

For Chanu, the result completes a significant part of her international medal collection. She now has an Olympic medal, a World Championships title, Commonwealth Games gold and an Asian Games medal to her name.

More importantly, the silver closes a chapter that had stretched across three Asian Games cycles.

After finishing ninth at Incheon, missing Jakarta and narrowly missing the podium at Hangzhou, Chanu finally stood on the Asian Games podium in Aichi-Nagoya.