Background and career
Mirabai Chanu Saikhom (born 9 August 1994) is an Indian weightlifter. She won the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the women's 49 kg event. On 17 April 2021, she set a world record in clean & jerk in the 49 kg category with a lift of 119 kg (262 lb) in the 2020 Asian Weightlifting Championships, a record which she held till 5 September 2023.
Mirabai Chanu won a gold medal in the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships. She has also won two silver medals at the World Weightlifting Championships in 2022 and 2025, and a silver medal at the 2026 Asian Games. She has won three gold medals and a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games. In the 49 kg weight class, she set a new Commonwealth Games record in the snatch, clean & jerk, and overall categories in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, which she bettered in the 2022 and the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Mirabai Chanu was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour, and Khel Ratna Award, India's highest sporting honour, by the Government of India in 2018. In 2022, she joined the I-League football club NEROCA FC as its brand ambassador.
