Mirabai Chanu’s unfinished business before the big switch

She might be India’s greatest-ever weightlifter, but Mirabai Chanu doesn’t demand any special favours at the end of a morning training session at the Weightlifting Warriors gym in Modinagar, just outside New Delhi. Having hoisted hundreds of kilos of iron weights, several tonnes in total, during an hour-and-a-half session, overhead, the Olympic medallist now pulls the same weights off her barbell and back onto the racks.

But where most of the other elite international weightlifters at this gym, operated by national coach Vijay Sharma, stop at this point, Mirabai isn’t done after the last plate is put away. She takes a cloth and wipes off the barbell, removing the white chalk deposited from her palms over the course of dozens of lifts in the training session.

She doesn’t think much of it.

“I’ve always done this,” she tells  Sportstar later. “I consider the barbell nothing less than the weapon a soldier carries into battle. Just like he keeps his weapon clean, I also have to maintain my equipment. I also have to be an example to younger weightlifters,” she says.

Since beginning her international career in 2014, Mirabai has faced her share of challenges and built a record that will be hard to emulate.

Having already won titles at the World Championships, medals at the Asian Championships, Commonwealth Games and, of course, an Olympic silver, Mirabai has shown few signs of slowing down. Last year, she won another world medal, a silver in the women’s 48kg category. Then, at the National Championships in February this year, she lifted a Personal Best of 89kg in the snatch. She followed that with a 116kg lift in the clean and jerk to total 205kg, equalling her Personal Best recorded at the 2021 Asian Championships in the 49kg category.

Mirabai Chanu created history by winning India’s first-ever weightlifting silver medal in the Olympics, after lifting a total of 202 kg in the women’s 49 kg event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Tough phase

While she is in strong form, Mirabai knows this phase will be among her toughest. Last year, the International Weightlifting Federation announced that weight categories for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics were being rejigged. The lightest women’s category, 49kg, in which Mirabai has competed for most of the last decade and won silver at the Tokyo Olympics, was dropped from the Olympic programme.

She will have no choice but to move up to the 53kg division. She plans to first compete in this higher category at the 2026 Asian Games in Tokyo. But she has unfinished business first. Mirabai will compete in the 48kg category at both the upcoming Asian Championships and Commonwealth Games. She has already won two gold medals in this category at the latter (2018, 2022) and wants to sign off with another.

“The Commonwealth Games will be my last competition in the 48kg category. I want to leave this category by doing something special. I think I am in good shape for this. Last year, after the Olympic weight categories were changed, I had to move down to the 48kg class. In the new IWF categories, the 48kg class is the lightest, although it is not an Olympic category. But even after I started competing in this class, my performance is the same as in the 49kg category, and in some ways even better,” she says.

“In my last competition, I want to do better than I’ve ever done at the Commonwealth Games. When I analyse my training, I think my performance is going really well. I already hold the Commonwealth record and will try to achieve even more.”

She has a number in mind: a 90kg snatch and a 120kg clean and jerk.

Increased confidence

“I got a lot of confidence from the National Championships. I lifted 89kg in the snatch on my second attempt. Then I attempted 91kg in my third. I’ve never attempted anything above 90kg in training. So even though I didn’t complete the lift, it gives me confidence to simply attempt that weight in competition. It’s the same with the clean and jerk. I’ve never touched 120kg in training before attempting it in competition. Now I know what that weight feels like.

“I keep a diary of my lifts where I write that I can cross 90kg in the snatch and 120kg in the clean and jerk. I know I am getting close,” she says.

At the 2025 World Championships DPR Korea’s Kang Hyon-gyong had won gold with a combined lift of 214kg.

Mirabai’s confidence, she says, comes not just from attempting the biggest weights of her career but also from staying injury-free for much of the past couple of years.

Mirabai began her 2026 season at the National Weightlifting Championships in February and set three new national records in the women’s 48kg category. | Photo Credit: SHASHI SHEKHAR KASHYAP

“In my career, I’ve suffered a lot of injuries to my joints, wrists and shoulders. But I’ve been working on my technique, especially in the first and second pull of the snatch and how I receive the bar overhead. All this has helped me avoid injuries,” she says.

Mirabai has another goal this year: a medal at the Asian Games. For all her accomplishments, she has never medalled at the continental event. Her closest finish was fourth at Hangzhou.

“I’ve never won a medal at the Asian Games. I’ve done everything else. This is the one medal I don’t have. More than anything, that’s my target this year,” she says.

While the Asian Games may be seen as a stepping stone to the 2028 Olympics, Mirabai isn’t looking that far ahead.

“As of now, I’m focused on the Asian Games. Only after that will I think about the Olympic weight category. Of course, I want to go to the Olympics, but I will see how my body responds at the Asian Games. If it adapts well to the new category, I will have more confidence,” she says.

Difficult shift

The move to the 53kg division will be challenging. At 4’11, Mirabai will not find it easy to add the additional 5kg of muscle mass, more than 10 per cent of her body weight, that she will need.

The level of competition will also be higher. At last year’s World Championships, the bronze-medal total was 200kg, compared to 198kg in the women’s 48kg category. The number could have been higher had China’s Du Meiyuan not withdrawn due to injury.

Additionally, many of her competitors have already been preparing for the 53kg category, while Mirabai will only transition after the Commonwealth Games.

Yet, she isn’t overly concerned. Lifting 205kg at her current body weight gives her confidence that she can lift more with additional muscle.

At 31, Mirabai knows she is in the latter stages of her career, but she is determined to push as long as she can. “As long as I have that motivation, I’ll keep fighting,” she says. | Photo Credit: SHASHI SHEKHAR KASHYAP

She is, in fact, looking forward to one aspect of the transition.

“I’ve been 48–49kg for many years. One of the hardest things was constantly controlling what I ate. It took a lot of motivation to remind myself why I was doing it.

“After the Tokyo Olympics, Domino’s gave me a free pizza-for-life deal, but I never really used it because I couldn’t eat it! So one thing I’m looking forward to is eating a bit more,” she says.

For now, she remains focused. At 31, she knows she is in the latter stages of her career, but she is determined to push as long as she can.

“People say that in sport you start deteriorating with age. That may be true. But I believe motivation matters just as much. Every competition motivates me. It shows me the way forward and reminds me of the work I’ve put in over the years.

“As long as I have that motivation, I’ll keep fighting,” she says.

Published on Apr 13, 2026

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