Aichi-Nagoya, 23 September (H.S.): Olympic medallist and three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Mirabai Chanu won her maiden Asian Games medal on Wednesday, securing the silver medal in the women’s 49kg weightlifting event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Chanu lifted a total of 198kg in the competition. In the snatch, she successfully completed all three of her attempts, lifting 83kg, 85kg and 87kg respectively.

In the clean and jerk, Chanu opened with a successful 107kg lift. She then cleared 111kg in her second attempt, taking her overall total to 198kg.

North Korea’s Ri Song Gum won the gold medal with a total lift of 215kg, while Mirabai Chanu claimed silver with 198kg. Vijayana secured the bronze medal.

The medal holds special significance for Chanu. At the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, an injury forced her to withdraw from her final clean and jerk attempt, leaving her in fourth place. This time, she secured a place on the podium to win her first-ever Asian Games medal.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallist had also won gold at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games. Her silver medal at the Asian Games adds another major achievement to her distinguished international career.

Following Karnam Malleswari, Mirabai Chanu has become only the second Indian weightlifter to win medals at all six major international weightlifting competitions — the Olympic Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championships, Asian Championships and Commonwealth Championships.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar