Olympic medallist Mirabai Chanu leads the Indian team at the 2026 World Weightlifting Championships in Ningbo, China, marking the first major step in the qualification process for the upcoming LA 2028 Olympic Games.
2026 World Weightlifting Championships
New Delhi [India], October 27 (ANI): Olympic medallist Mirabai Chanu will spearhead India’s campaign at the 2026 World Weightlifting Championships, scheduled to take place at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Centre in China from October 27 to November 8. Indian fans will be able to watch the championships live via streaming.
Road to LA 2028 Olympics
The competition in Ningbo will mark the first of 10 qualifying events on the road to the LA 2028 Olympic Games, as per Olympics.com. To remain eligible for the Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR), weightlifters must register three total results (snatch plus clean and jerk) during the first qualification period and two during the second, all within the same Olympic weight category. The OQR will consider each athlete’s three best total results from the first period and two best results from the second. Each kilogram lifted will count as one ranking point. At the end of the qualification process, the top eight eligible weightlifters in each Olympic weight category in the final OQR will secure quota places for the LA 2028 Olympics, allocated to them by name. More than 500 athletes are expected to compete at the World Weightlifting Championships in Ningbo.
Mirabai Chanu’s Category Shift
Mirabai Chanu, 32, will compete in the women’s 53kg category, one of the six women’s weight classes included in the weightlifting programme for the LA 2028 Olympics. Mirabai has moved up to the 53kg category for the LA 2028 Olympic cycle, as the 49kg division, in which she won silver at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and competed at Paris 2024, has been dropped from the Olympic weightlifting programme.
Indian Squad Details
World Weightlifting Championships 2026: India squad: Women: Mirabai Chanu (53kg), Gyaneshwari Yadav (53kg), Usha (61kg), Nirupama Devi Seram (61kg) Men: Lovepreet Singh (+110kg). (ANI)
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