Mirabai Chanu will miss the Asian Weightlifting Championships 2026, scheduled in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, from May 11 to 17, as she continues to recover from the shoulder injury she sustained earlier this year.
A former world champion and silver medallist from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Mirabai Chanu last competed at the national championships in Modinagar in February, where she won gold in the women’s 48kg division despite carrying the injury.
The Indian weightlifter was expected to return for the meet in Gandhinagar but that has now been ruled out to avoid the risk of aggravating the problem heading a packed 2026 season.
The Asian Weightlifting Championships 2026 will be held at the Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre in Gandhinagar and will feature athletes from around 30 countries.
India is hosting the continental weightlifting championships for the second time. New Delhi was the host city for the 1982 Asian Championships.
Mirabai Chanu’s absence also means that she will miss the Asian Weightlifting Championships for the third consecutive year after sitting out the 2024 and 2025 editions due to injury concerns.
The last time she competed at the Asian Championships was back in 2023 when it was held in Jinju, the Republic of Korea, where she finished sixth.
Mirabai Chanu won the overall bronze medal at the 2020 Asian Championships, an edition which also saw her bag the gold in the clean and jerk section with a then world record 119kg lift. She also won bronze in C&J back in 2019.
The Indian weightlifter has been carefully managing her workload since returning from the hip injury she suffered during the Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023.
With the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games both scheduled later this year, the focus for Mirabai Chanu and her team remains on regaining full fitness ahead of the major multi-sport events.
Mirabai Chanu won gold medals at the last two Commonwealth Games but the 31-year-old is yet to win a medal at the Asian Games. She narrowly missed out in Hangzhou last time, finishing fourth.
Komal Kohar will represent India in place of Mirabai Chanu in the women’s 48kg division at Gandhinagar. Overall, 16 Indian lifters – eight men and eight women – will be in action at the continental meet.
read more: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/mirabai-chanu-miss-asian-weightlifting-championships-2026-injury
