Olympic silver medallist Mirabai Chanu delivered a sensational performance at the National Weightlifting Championships 2026 on Wednesday, smashing three national records in the women’s 48kg category.
Mirabai lifted a total of 205kg, setting new national records in the snatch, clean and jerk, and overall total. The 31-year-old opened with an impressive 89kg in the snatch and followed it up with a commanding 116kg in the clean and jerk to comfortably clinch the gold medal.
Her total of 205kg marked a significant improvement of 6kg over her previous personal best of 199kg, which she had achieved while winning silver at the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships in Forde. At that event, Mirabai had also held the national clean and jerk record of 115kg and the total record of 199kg in the 48kg category.
At the World Championships in December 2023, Mirabai attempted to break her own national snatch record with a lift of 91kg but was unsuccessful. However, her best lifts at that competition were still enough to secure a dominant victory, finishing 22kg ahead of silver medallist Ronda Soni, while Komal Kohar claimed the bronze medal.
After winning an Olympic silver medal at the Tokyo Games in 2020 in the 49kg category and finishing fourth at the Paris 2024 Olympics in the same weight class, Mirabai moved to the 48kg category in 2022 following the International Weightlifting Federation’s decision to drop the 49kg category from Olympic qualification.
The transition has already proven fruitful. Since moving to the 48kg division, Mirabai has won gold at the 2023 Commonwealth Championships and silver at the 2022 World Championships, reaffirming her status as one of India’s elite female weightlifters.
Looking ahead, the Tokyo Olympic medallist is expected to gradually move up to the 53kg category after the Asian Games. The 53kg division will be the lowest women’s weight class at the LA 2028 Olympic Games.
Notably, all of Mirabai Chanu’s major international achievements — including three medals at the World Weightlifting Championships and three medals at the Commonwealth Games — have come in sub-50kg categories, underlining her dominance and versatility across weight divisions.
(IANS)
