New Delhi: As the Indian national anthem echoed through Glasgow’s SEC Armadillo, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu stood atop the podium with tears welling in her eyes. Moments earlier, the Manipuri weightlifter had become the first Indian to win gold at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, lifting a Games record total of 190 kg in the women’s 48 kg event. For Chanu, it was the fulfilment of a promise.
“I am pleased with my performance and truly humbled to win my third consecutive Commonwealth Games gold medal,” she posted on X after the victory. “I realised that I had fulfilled the promise I had made to my mother and Coach Vijay sir that I would win gold again.”
Chanu, the Additional Superintendent of Police in Manipur, has spent nearly a decade taking Indian weightlifting to new heights. The 31-year-old’s triumph was her third successive Commonwealth Games gold, after Gold Coast in 2018 and Birmingham in 2022. It’s her fourth Commonwealth Games medal overall, extending a career that has made her one of India’s most decorated athletes and one of the defining faces of Indian sport.
The 2016 setback
Born in Nongpok Kakching village in Manipur’s Imphal East district, Chanu grew up in a family of modest means. Her father was a government employee and her mother sold samosas. As a child, she would accompany her elder brother to collect firewood from the nearby forests. While her brother often struggled to carry the bundles home, Chanu, then barely in her teens, could lift them with ease—a display of strength that would later become part of the folklore surrounding her rise.
Ahead of the Paris Olympics, Chanu recalled that it was her mother who first recognised her strength.
“My mother realised that I have an innate strength and suggested I take up weightlifting,” she said.
Ironically, her first sporting ambition was not weightlifting but archery. That changed when she learned about fellow Manipuri weightlifter Kunjarani Devi, whose seven World Championship medals and Commonwealth Games gold inspired a generation of athletes from the state. Watching weightlifters train convinced Chanu to pursue the sport instead.
There were few facilities in her village, and she travelled nearly 40 km every day to train at the Sports Authority of India centre in Imphal. The long commute soon began to pay off. Chanu won silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games before representing India at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
It proved to be the biggest setback of her career. Chanu failed to register a single successful clean and jerk lift, crashing out of the competition without a total.
“After I failed in the Rio 2016 Olympics, I was completely broken. I had aspirations of winning a medal, but I was not able to do so. So I kept thinking, ‘After working so hard, why did I fail?'” she recalled ahead of the Paris Olympics.
Also read: The youth of India should be asking questions—about science, clean energy, fast trains
2021 breakthrough
The disappointment became Chanu’s turning point. Under coach Vijay Sharma, she rebuilt her technique and confidence. Within a year, she became world champion in the women’s 48 kg category at the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships—India’s first world title in weightlifting in over two decades. The following year, she claimed gold at Commonwealth Games 2018, establishing herself among the world’s elite weightlifters.
Her biggest breakthrough came at the Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021 after being postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Competing in the women’s 49 kg category, Chanu lifted a combined 202 kg to win silver, becoming only the second Indian weightlifter after Karnam Malleswari to win an Olympic medal. It was India’s first medal of the Tokyo Games and ended a 21-year wait for an Olympic podium finish in weightlifting.
The achievement made Chanu a household name. In recognition of her Olympic success, the Manipur government appointed her as Additional Superintendent of Police (Sports) in 2022.
“I would like to thank the state of Manipur and our Hon’ble Chief Minister N. Biren Singh sir for giving me this opportunity to serve the country and its citizens,” she wrote on X after assuming office.
It is an honour to have joined the Manipur Police as the Additional Superintendent of Police (Sports). I would like to thank the state of Manipur and our Hon'ble Chief Minister @NBirenSingh sir, for giving me this opportunity to serve the country and its citizens.#JaiHind pic.twitter.com/doRkTxQkj4
— Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (@mirabai_chanu) January 15, 2022
Chanu successfully defended her Commonwealth Games title in Birmingham in 2022 and was chosen as one of India’s flagbearers for the opening ceremony of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Also read: CJP has many copycats now. Reservation hatao, kabootar, bhagwa sprout
A call for peace
The athlete’s story is about more than her medals. Throughout her career, she has spoken of carrying the hopes of Manipur, a state that has consistently produced some of India’s finest sportspersons despite decades of conflict and limited resources.
When ethnic violence engulfed Manipur in May 2023, Chanu was among the first prominent athletes to publicly appeal for peace. In a post on social media, she urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah to intervene, writing that “my home is burning” and asking them to restore normalcy in the state. In subsequent interviews, she said the violence had deeply affected athletes and children alike, disrupting training, education, and everyday life.
I request Hon'ble Prime Minister @narendramodi_in sir and Home Minister @AmitShah sir to kindly help and save our state Manipur. 🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/zRbltnjKl8
— Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (@mirabai_chanu) July 17, 2023
“Peace is yet to be restored. Due to the violence, many players in the state are unable to train, education is getting disturbed. Many people have lost their lives, and several houses have been burnt,” she said, adding that she constantly worried about her family and the people of Manipur.
As she continued to compete on the international stage, Chanu kept returning to the message—that while medals bring pride, peace is essential for young athletes to dream about the podium finish.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)