Archive · 23 Sep 2026
Mirabai Chanu Wins Asian Games Silver After Years of Setbacks
Mirabai Chanu is an Indian athlete who lifts very heavy weights.
She won a silver medal at the Asian Games in Japan.
She lifted 198 kilograms in total in the women’s 49-kilogram event.
Ri Song Gum of North Korea won gold with a world-record total of 215 kilograms.
Chanu had wanted an Asian Games medal for many years.
She had faced injuries and finished fourth at earlier competitions.
At the 2016 Olympics, she could not complete a lift and thought about quitting.
Her coach helped her rebuild her confidence and technique.
Her silver medal finished the collection of major medals in her career.
Mirabai Chanu won silver in the women’s 49-kilogram weightlifting event at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya.
Her 198-kilogram total made her India’s first Asian Games weightlifting medallist since Karnam Malleswari in 1998.
North Korea’s Ri Song Gum won gold with a world-record 215-kilogram total, including a 121-kilogram clean and jerk.
Chanu overcame earlier setbacks, including a failed Rio 2016 competition, injuries and fourth-place finishes at the Asian Games and Paris Olympics.
The medal completed Chanu’s collection of major honors and followed years of training with coach Vijay Sharma.
- Who
- Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and North Korean winner Ri Song Gum competed in the women’s 49-kilogram event.
- What
- Chanu won silver with a 198-kilogram total, giving India its first Asian Games weightlifting medal since 1998.
- When
- September 23, 2026.
- Where
- The Nagoya City Trade and Industry Centre in Nagoya, Japan.
- Why
- Chanu sought the Asian Games medal missing from her career and helped end India’s long weightlifting-medal drought.
- Medalist
- Mirabai Chanu of India
- Event
- Women’s 49-kilogram weightlifting
- Result
- Silver medal with a 198-kilogram total
- Gold medalist
- Ri Song Gum of North Korea
- Gold-medal total
- 215 kilograms, described as a world record
- Previous Indian medal
- Karnam Malleswari’s silver at the 1998 Asian Games
- Training academy
- Weightlifting Warriors Academy in Ghaziabad, co-founded by Chanu, Olympic Gold Quest and coach Vijay Sharma
