Why Mirabai Chanu Rates Asian Games Silver As High As An Olympic Medal

Mirabai Chanu's trophy cabinet is complete. Her long wait for a first-ever Asian Games medal ended on Wednesday, as did India's 28-year drought for success in weightlifting at the continental event. Mirabai Chanu, who is an Olympic medallist and multiple Commonwealth Games medallist, was competing in her third Asian Games. She achieved success, totalling 199kg (88kg+111kg) to claim India's first Asian Games weightlifting medal since Karnam Malleswari's bronze in 1998.

In July, Mirabai Chanu won gold in the 49kg category at the Commonwealth Games. She had to readjust her weight for the Asian Games. "Controlling my weight has been a struggle for me as there was very little time after the Commonwealth Games," Mirabai Chanu said.

"Winning an Asian Games medal is a dream come true. I have been chasing this medal for the last 12 years, since the 2014 Asian Games. My life is complete now with this medal. And I am feeling very light. It's a dream Asian Games."

Mirabai is an Olympic medallist but still rates the Asian Games very highly.

"In weightlifting, the best of the best are from Asia - China, North Korea and Thailand. So, winning an Asian Games medal is as big as winning an Olympic medal," she said.

"From the time I walked into weightlifting, it was my dream to win an Asian Games medal. Today, I have realised it."

For Chanu, the medal also brings a brief pause after months of relentless preparation. She had returned to training the very next day after winning gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last month, with Nagoya firmly in her sights.

"I am yet to decide how to go about LA 2028. The qualification process starts in December. I will enjoy this medal for a while and then decide," she said.

The silver completes a collection that already includes an Olympic silver, three World Championship medals, including a gold, multiple Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Championships titles, and an Asian Championships bronze.

But the Asian Games had repeatedly found a way to leave her empty-handed.

Chanu finished ninth on her debut in 2014 and missed the 2018 edition because of a back injury. At the Hangzhou Games in 2023, she was within touching distance of the podium before a hip injury on the platform forced her to settle for fourth.

There was no such drama in Nagoya.

Wearing gold earrings shaped like the Olympic rings, which were gifted to her by her mother, and a tricoloured ribbon in her hair, Chanu walked onto the platform with a familiar target but a different sense of occasion.

She opened her snatch series with 83kg, then smoothly cleared 85kg and 87kg to finish the first half of the competition in third place.

In the clean and jerk, Chanu made 107kg look routine with her opening lift. She then heaved 111kg.

Two-time world champion Ri Song Gum of North Korea lived up to her billing, completing a hat-trick of Asian Games titles with a stunning 215kg (94kg+121kg).

Ri smashed the world records in the snatch, clean and jerk, and total on her way to gold, while Indonesia's Luluk Diana Tri Wijayana took bronze with 191kg (88kg+103kg).

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