Mirabai Chanu Clinches Silver at Asian Games with Strategic Training

Focus on Injury Prevention

The primary goal for Vijay Sharma, the chief coach of the Indian national weightlifting team, was to manage Saikhom Mirabai Chanu's training load effectively. This strategy aimed to keep her injury-free while ensuring she peaked at the Asian Games, ultimately leading to her securing the silver medal that had previously eluded her.

Chanu's Return and Achievement

Chanu arrived back in India on Tuesday morning after winning silver in the women's 49kg category at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, thus completing her medal collection from major international competitions.

Insights from the Coach

In an interview in New Delhi, Sharma explained that the training regimen was tailored to prevent injuries, especially after Chanu's disappointing previous Asian Games experience. He expressed, "We had been eagerly awaiting this medal; thanks to Mira's dedication, she achieved it, bringing joy to both the nation and myself. Her hard work truly paid off. Our singular focus was to avoid injuries, as we had previously finished fourth due to one."

"My aim was to create a training program that kept Mira injury-free, and we accomplished that. We managed her training load to ensure peak performance without risking injury, and fortunately, it resulted in a medal win," added the Dronacharya Awardee coach.

Chanu's Silver-Winning Performance

The 32-year-old athlete lifted a total of 198kg to secure the silver medal, successfully completing all three of her snatch attempts at 83kg, 85kg, and 87kg, followed by clean and jerk lifts of 107kg and 111kg in her first two attempts. North Korea's Ri Song Gum took home the gold with a total of 215kg, while Wijayana earned the bronze.

A Milestone in Chanu's Career

This medal represents a significant milestone for Chanu, as she finally added an Asian Games medal to her impressive collection, which already includes an Olympic silver, three Commonwealth Games gold medals, a World Championships gold, and medals from the Asian Championships.

Chanu had previously missed the podium at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023 due to an injury that forced her to withdraw from her final clean and jerk attempt, finishing fourth. Three years later, she returned to the Asian Games and secured the silver that had been absent from her medal tally.

Entering the Asian Games after winning gold at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026, Chanu achieved her third Commonwealth Games title, following victories in 2018 at Gold Coast and in 2022 at Birmingham.

With this Asian Games silver, Chanu became the second Indian weightlifter, after Karnam Malleshwari, to win medals across the Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championships, Asian Championships, and Commonwealth Championships.