Picture Credit: AP
With a billion dreams resting on her shoulder for a medal, weightlifter Mirabai Chanu did not disappoint her countrymen as she won the first medal for India at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games, bagging a silver in the women's 49 Kg category. And despite the majority of the country being happy with her silver-winning effort at the biggest sporting extravaganza, it turns out, she was hoping for a gold.
Post her silver win, Chanu sounded happy but also stated that she was determined to go for gold but could not achieve her ambition. Nevertheless, she said that she was happy on winning the medal. She reflected how the entire country had expectations and acknowledged how hard she worked for this event.
"I’m very happy that I’ve won the medal. The entire country was watching me & they had their expectations. I was a little nervous but I was determined to give my best…I worked really hard for this. I tried my best to win a gold medal but I wasn’t able to win gold, but I really tried. When I did 2nd lift, I understood I’ll bring a medal along with me," Chanu said from Tokyo as quoted in a News 18 report.
Chanu also took to Twitter to thank her countrymen and fans.
Check out her Tweet here:
"It’s really a dream come true for me. I would like to dedicate this medal to my country and would like to thank a billion prayers of all Indians which were with me during this journey. I like to thank my family especially my mother for a lot of sacrifices and believing in me," said Chanu in a statement posted on her Twitter account.
"Also special thanks to our government for supporting me, Ministry of Sports, SAI, I0A, Weightlifting Federation of India, Railways, OGQ, sponsors, and my marketing agency IOS for their continuous support in this journey," she added.
"I would like to give special thanks to my coach Vijay Sharma sir and support staff for their continuous hard work, motivation, and training. Thank you once again entire weightlifting fraternity and all my countrymen," she further said.
Chanu lifted a total of 202 kg (87kg in snatch and 115kg in clean and jerk) during her successful attempts at the competition. China’s Zhihui Hou, who bagged the gold, lifted 210 kg. Moreover, Indonesia’s Windy Cantika Aisah grabbed bronze with a total of 194kg.