Imphal: Indian weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu won the silver medal in the women’s 49kg category at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday, ending India’s 28-year wait for a weightlifting medal at the continental event.
Representing India in Japan, the 32-year-old Chanu lifted a combined 198kg, including 87kg in the snatch and 111kg in the clean and jerk. North Korea’s Ri Song-Gum won gold with a world-record total of 215kg.
The medal completes Chanu’s collection of major international honours, adding an Asian Games medal to the Olympic, Commonwealth Games and world championship medals she already holds.
India’s previous Asian Games weightlifting medal had come at the 1998 Bangkok Games, where Karnam Malleswari won silver.
The Asian Games had been a long-standing challenge for Chanu. She finished ninth at the 2014 edition and missed the 2018 Games because of a back injury. At the 2023 Hangzhou Games, she finished fourth after failing with a 117kg clean-and-jerk attempt while competing with a thigh injury.
Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh congratulated Chanu on her medal. In a Facebook post, he said her 198kg total had brought pride to Manipur and India and said her achievement would inspire young athletes.