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Saikhom Mirabai Chanu wins silver at World Weightlifting Championships in Forde, Norway, lifting 199kg. Ri Song-gum takes gold with a world record.
Mirabai Chanu has bagged her third medal at the World Weightlifting Championships (Picture credit: AFP)
Two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Saikhom Mirabai Chanu on Thursday won her first medal at the World Weightlifting Championships in three years, bagging a silver in the competition at Forde in Norway.
Competing in her first World Championships since 2022 and only her second event after a fourth-place finish at the Paris Olympics, Chanu lifted a total of 199kg (84kg snatch + 115kg clean and jerk) to bag the silver medal.
Chanu began confidently in the snatch with an 84kg lift but missed both her attempts at 87kg. Still, her 84kg effort bagged her a bronze in the snatch section.
In the clean and jerk, Chanu began with 109kg, improved to 112kg and finished with 115kg, a lift that earned her silver in the event as well as in the overall standings. The overall gold went to defending champion Ri Song-gum of DPR Korea, who lifted a total of 213kg (91kg + 122kg), with her 122kg clean and jerk setting a new world record.
Song-gum is a two-time Asian Games gold medallist. Thailand’s Thanyathon Sukcharoen claimed bronze with a 198kg effort (88kg + 110kg). The latter is a two-time Asian Games bronze medallist.
At Paris 2024, Chanu recorded 199kg (88kg snatch + 111kg clean and jerk) in the 49kg category. Her World Championships journey has been brilliant; she clinched the 48kg gold in Anaheim 2017 with a total of 194kg (85kg snatch + 109kg clean and jerk), becoming India’s first World Champion since Karnam Malleswari’s successive titles in 1994 and 1995.
At the 2022 Championships in Bogota, Chanu claimed silver in the 49kg category with a total of 200kg (87kg snatch + 113kg clean and jerk). In 2023, she weighed in but skipped lifting in the same category, choosing to protect herself from injury during the compulsory Olympic qualifier.
This marked India’s 18th medal at the World Weightlifting Championships, with the tally now standing at three golds, 10 silvers and five bronzes, all earned by women. Just last month, Chanu made a winning return at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Ahmedabad, claiming gold with a total lift of 193kg (84kg snatch + 109kg clean and jerk).
October 03, 2025, 07:58 IST
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