Indian weightlifters are bringing immense pride to the nation during the Commonwealth Games 2026. So far, the team has yet to face any setbacks, securing medals in the 23rd edition of this prestigious event. On Monday, Bindyarani Devi continued the impressive performance by clinching a bronze medal in the women’s 58kg category. This marks her second medal at the Commonwealth Games, having previously earned silver in the last edition held in Birmingham. With this latest achievement, India has now amassed five medals in weightlifting, contributing to a total of six medals across all sports at CWG 2026.
Event Context
Bindyarani secured third place in the women’s 58kg weightlifting category with an impressive total lift of 199kg, achieved through her snatch of 87kg and a clean and jerk of 112kg. Nigeria’s Rafiatu Folashade Lawal took home the gold with a remarkable total lift of 229kg, while the silver medal was claimed by Ann Sophie Taschereau, who lifted 215kg. Notably, Lawal set a new Commonwealth Games clean and jerk record by lifting 126kg during her final attempt.
For her competition, Bindyarani began with a successful snatch lift of 83kg, followed by two successful attempts at 85kg and 87kg, concluding her snatch segment with the highest score of 87kg, setting her up for a podium finish.
In the clean and jerk segment, Bindyarani faced challenges, initially failing to lift 110kg. However, she bounced back by successfully lifting 112kg on her next attempt. Despite failing to lift 116kg on her final try, she accumulated enough points to secure the bronze medal.
Earlier on Sunday, the Indian weightlifting team had a strong start with Rishikanta Singh winning silver, Mirabai Chanu claiming gold, and Raja Muthupandi also achieving silver. The momentum continued on Monday as Gyaneshwari Yadav added to the medal tally with a silver finish.
Bindyarani made her mark in the weightlifting scene by clinching the IWLF Youth National Championships title in 2016, followed by a gold medal at the Khelo India Youth Games in 2019. That same year, she triumphed at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in the women’s 55kg category, boasting a combined lift of 183kg, which included 78kg in the snatch and 105kg in the clean and jerk.
Match Outlook
Bindyarani’s career reached a pivotal milestone at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham. After finishing third in the snatch segment, she delivered an outstanding performance in the clean and jerk by lifting 116kg. This achievement brought her total to 202kg, earning her the silver medal in the women’s 55kg category.
At the 2025 National Games, she triumphed in the women’s 55kg division, setting new national records. Her snatch lift of 88kg broke the previous record set by Mirabai Chanu, and she also established new benchmarks in both the clean and jerk and overall total. Later that season, she took on a new challenge by competing in the 58kg weight class.
