It is hard enough to be in control of the very knots in the threads that weave the fabric of a medal. For Mirabai Chanu, those threads had been tangled in heartbreak and near-misses for over a decade. They finally came together in Nagoya when she won silver in the 49kg.

The Tokyo Olympic silver medallist totalled 198kg, lifting 88kg in the snatch and 111kg in the clean and jerk to claim India’s first Asian Games weightlifting medal since Karnam Malleswari won bronze in 1998.