Saikhom Mirabai Chanu Clinches Silver at Asian Games with Strategic Training

Chanu's Journey to Silver

In New Delhi, the chief coach of the Indian national weightlifting team, Vijay Sharma, emphasized the importance of managing Saikhom Mirabai Chanu's training regimen to keep her injury-free while ensuring she peaked at the Asian Games. This careful approach ultimately led to Chanu securing the silver medal that had previously eluded her at this prestigious event.

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

In an interview in New Delhi, Sharma explained that the training program was meticulously crafted to avoid injuries, especially after Chanu's disappointing performance in her last Asian Games appearance.

"We had been looking forward to this medal; fortunately, Mira's dedication paid off, bringing great joy to both the nation and myself. Her hard work truly bore fruit. Our singular focus was on this medal, especially since we missed out last time due to injury, finishing fourth instead," he stated.

"My primary objective was to create a training plan that would keep Mira injury-free, and we achieved that. We carefully managed her training load to ensure she could perform at her best without risking injury; thankfully, this strategy led to her winning the medal," added the Dronacharya Awardee coach.

The 32-year-old athlete lifted a total of 198kg to secure the silver, successfully completing all three of her snatch attempts at weights of 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.

This medal represents a pivotal moment in Chanu's career, as she finally added an Asian Games medal to her impressive collection, which already includes an Olympic silver, three Commonwealth Games golds, 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, resulting in a fourth-place finish.

Three years later, she returned to the Asian Games and achieved the silver that had been absent from her medal tally.

Entering the Asian Games on the heels of a gold medal at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026, Chanu has now claimed her third Commonwealth Games title, following victories in 2018 at Gold Coast and in 2022 at Birmingham.

With her Asian Games silver, Chanu has become the second Indian weightlifter, after Karnam Malleshwari, to earn medals across the Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championships, Asian Championships, and Commonwealth Championships.