Olympic silver medallist Mirabai Chanu has asked the Indian government to consider her for the Arjuna Award after winning a historic silver medal in the women’s 49kg weightlifting event at the Asian Games 2026 in Nagoya
The 32-year-old Chanu produced a composed performance in the women’s 49kg competition at the 2026 Asian Games to secure the silver medal with a total lift of 198kg (87kg in snatch and 111kg in clean and jerk). Reigning world-record holder Ri Song-gum of North Korea clinched the gold medal with an imposing total of 210kg, while Indonesia’s Wijayana Luluk Diani Tri took home the bronze with 191kg.
The result ended Chanu’s long wait for an Asian Games podium and closed India’s 28-year gap in the discipline. She became the country’s first weightlifting medallist at the Games since Karnam Malleswari’s silver at Bangkok 1998.
The medal also completed Chanu’s set across the Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.
‘I Don’t Have It. I Want It’: Chanu On Elusive Arjuna Award
Despite having already received India’s highest sporting honour – the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna – and the civilian Padma Shri in 2018, Mirabai Chanu emphasized that receiving the Arjuna Award remains a dream she has nurtured since her formative years in Manipur.
“I would like to request that the government give me the Arjuna Award. I will be very happy. The Arjuna Award is the biggest. I don’t have it. I want it. I will be very happy if the government considers my achievement and awards it to me,” Chanu told IANS in Nagoya.
Under typical Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports guidelines, athletes conferred with the Khel Ratna are rarely considered for the lower-tier Arjuna Award, but special appeals and recommendations – including recent advocacy by Union Ayush Minister Prataprao Jadhav – have kept the plea in focus.
Emotional Redemption On Continental Stage
The podium finish finally exorcised Chanu’s long-standing Asian Games demons. Having finished ninth at Incheon 2014, missed Jakarta-Palembang 2018 due to a recurring back issue, and suffered an agonizing fourth-place finish while battling a thigh injury at Hangzhou 2022, Nagoya represented full-circle redemption.
“Yes, I was very emotional in Glasgow. They were happy tears. Today also I felt like crying. I had tears in my eyes out of happiness, but I didn’t cry. I was very happy. I got what I wanted. Today, my dream has come true,” Chanu said.
I am very happy with this medal. I have been dreaming of winning a medal in the Asian Games for many years. Today, my dream has come true. I am very proud of myself. I have won a silver medal for the country in weightlifting after many years,” she added.
IWF President Backs Mirabai’s Appeal
Meanwhile, Indian Weightlifting Federation president and Chef de Mission Sahdev Yadav backed Mirabai Chanu’s long-standing desire to receive the Arjuna Award and said he would personally raise the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“She has a dream, and she says it again and again, so the government should think. I will request this time when I meet the Prime Minister to give the Arjuna Award to Mirabai. She has a dream. She wants to have Arjuna’s picture, photo, and statue in her house.
“If a child has a dream, it should be fulfilled. And she deserves it. She got the Padma Shri and Khel Ratna, but she has a dream: ‘Why didn’t I get the Arjuna Award?’ She has a passion in her heart, so she should fulfil it. And we will all try. Through you. So, you do it. You do it. We will do it too,” Sahdev told IANS.
Chanu’s silver is both a personal landmark and a national one. Whether the government now adds the Arjuna Award to her collection is the next question she has put on the table.
