Golden girl Mirabai Chanu did what she does best—stand atop the podium. The Indian weightlifting icon clinched a sensational third successive Commonwealth Games gold while opening India's gold account at the 2026 edition on Sunday, July 26. Mirabai finished with a winning total of 190kg, including 85kg in the snatch and 105kg in the clean and jerk.
With this, the 31-year-old joined Chanambam Rishikanta Singh as the second weightlifter to bring home a medal on Sunday. She set a games and Commonwealth record in the snatch round with her lift. Mirabai completed a sensational performance by lifting 105 kgs in the clean and jerk to secure another games record and her fourth CWG medal.
Mirabai was coming into the contest as the undisputed favourite in the competition. As the rest of the weightlifters scrambled to get their lifts in to reach the podium, all that the Indian star needed to do was secure a perfect execution, first with the snatch and then clean and jerk to secure the top spot.
Mirabai had said earlier that her focus was on the Asian Games in two months time and she wasn't going to try anything extravagant in Glasgow. She was the last person to approach the stage. Her first lift in the snatch wasn't a perfect one, but that wasn't enough to wipe the smile off her face.
She returned backstage for a quick couple of words with her coaches and came back for her second attempt. This time she smashed the record with a lift of 82 kgs, much to the delight of the crowd. Just when we thought she might be done with her work, Mirabai came back, with the signature smile still on.
This time the weight was raised to 85 kgs and she had no issues in executing the perfect snatch to break the games and Commonwealth records. The Games record in the 48 kg category wasn't establised but was kept at 79 kgs, which Mirabai broke easily.
When it came to the Commonwealth Record, she broke her own mark of 84 kgs, which she had set last year in Ahmedabad.
Once again, during the clean and jerk round, Mirabai had set her benchmark to be 105 kgs, and the pressure was building on the Indian ace. Nigeria's Ruth Nyong had raised the bar to 93 kgs, meaning that if Mirabai executed her effort, then she would clinch gold.
Much like the snatch round, Mirabai added a little bit of drama as her first attempt wasn't perfect and got cancelled. Once again, she regrouped, came back with newfound focus.
This time, there was no smile, but determination in her eyes. She gave a war cry before approaching the bar, which got the Indian fans going. And without flinching, she got the clean part done, got the breathing rhythm in.
She lifted the bar above her head with no issues and held the pose perfectly. The judges loved it, the arena filled with cheers and the smile came back to Mirabai's face.
Mirabai made it clear that she is chasing the final dragon to slay in her illustrious career. A medal at the Asian Games.
The 31-year-old said that her performance in Glasgow will be modeled in a way that her preparations for Asian Games in September will not be affected.
“I will not give my full effort in the Commonwealth Games. My focus is the Asian Games, which are very near. I am training according to that. So my performance and effort here will depend on that plan,” said Chanu ahead of her attempt in Glasgow.
Judging by her performance on Sunday, that Asian Games doesn't seem to be far away for the super woman from Manipur.
