New Delhi: Star Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu will bulk up to the 53kg category for the LA Games after her weight class was dropped from the 2028 Olympics.
Chanu, who had won the Tokyo Olympics in the 49kg, will compete in the LA Games in the 53kg, the lowest category for women at the 2028 edition of the Olympic Games.
The developement comes after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to increase the total number of weightlifting events to 12.
New weight category to work in Chanu’s favour, says national coach
Chief national coach Vijay Sharma feels that the 53kg will work in Chanu’s favour at the Olympic Games, but also confirmed that the Manipuri boxer will continue in her old weight class till the Asian Games next year.
“This (removal of 49kg) is a good thing for Mirabai because cutting down her weight to 48kg was a taxing process,” Sharma told PTI.
The International Weightlifting Federation’s (IWF) statement said, “Following the encouraging decision taken by the IOC to enlarge the weightlifting programme at the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028, where 12 events (six men, six women) will be contested.”
IWF has now changed the categories twice in less than a year.
Earlier this year, Chanu shifted to the 48kg category after the IWF dropped the 49kg division from the Olympics. However, the 49kg class has now been reinstated for IWF events, including the World Championships, despite its absence from the Olympics programme.
Chanu claimed the gold medal at the Commonwealth Championships and a silver medal at the World Championships in the 48kg this year.
Two-year window for Chanu to prepare for Olympics
The 31-year-old weightlifter will continue to feature in the 48kg/49kg category until next year’s Asian Games will have a two-year window to move up to the 53kg division to prepare for the Olympics.
“Right now, she will continue in the same weight class till the Asian Games, after that we will begin the process of changing the weight to 53kg,” Sharma added.
The women’s Olympic categories will now feature competitions in 53kg, 61kg, 69kg, 77kg, 86kg, and +86kg – while the men will compete in the 65kg, 75kg, 85kg, 95kg, 110kg, and +110kg weight classes.
The new set of 16 categories will come into effect from August 1, 2026.
“The new categories were proposed by the IWF Technical Committee, and were provisionally approved by the IWF Executive Board in its last meeting in Forde (NOR), with the occasion of the 2025 IWF World Championships. They became official after the ratification by the IWF Athletes Commission,” the IWF said.