Mirabai Chanu rewrites three national weightlifting records

Olympic medallist Mirabai Chanu rewrote three records at the National Weightlifting Championship 2026 in Modinagar, Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday.

Competing in the 48kg category, the weightlifter produced a 205kg lift to set new national records in the snatch, clean and jerk, and overall total.

Mirabai Chanu’s total lift of 205kg at the National Weightlifting Championship was a 6kg improvement from her 199kg lift that earned her a silver medal in the 48kg category at the World Championships in Forde last year.

Mirabai’s 115kg clean and jerk lift, and total of 199kg in Forde, were the previous national records in the 48kg category.

At the National Weightlifting Championship 2026, the 31-year-old Mirabai recorded best lifts of 89kg in snatch and 116kg in clean and jerk to secure gold. She also tried to better her snatch record with a 91kg attempt but was unsuccessful.

Mirabai Chanu finished 22kg ahead of silver medallist Radha Soni, while Komal Kohar bagged bronze.

Mirabai won her Tokyo 2020 silver medal in the 49kg category and finished fourth in the same division at Paris 2024.

However, Mirabai moved down to the 48kg category last year after the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) dropped the 49kg division from the Olympic programme.

After moving down to the 48kg category, Mirabai won gold at the Commonwealth Championships and a silver medal at the World Championships last year.

After the Asian Games, the Tokyo 2020 silver medallist is expected to gradually move up to the 53kg division, the lowest women’s category for weightlifting at the LA 2028 Olympics.

All of Mirabai Chanu’s major international achievements, including her three World Weightlifting Championship and three Commonwealth Games medals have come in the sub-50kg categories.