Tuesday 23 / April / 2024
Tokyo : After winning a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, weightlifter Mirabai Chanu on Saturday said this is a dream come true and also thanked the entire country for praying for her victory.
Mirabai Chanu opened India's medals tally on Saturday as she bagged a silver in the Women's 49kg category at Tokyo International Forum. "It's really a dream come true for me. I would like to dedicate this medal to my country and would like to thank the 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.
Further in her statement, Chanu said: "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."
Chanu said she was determined to give her best and also revealed how the 2016 Rio Olympics was a learning curve for her.
Mirabai Chanu opened India's medals tally as she bagged a silver in the Women's 49kg category at Tokyo International Forum.
"I am very happy that I have won the medal. The entire country was watching me and they had their expectations, I was a little nervous but I was determined to give my best. In 2016, I did not have a good show but it proved as a learning curve for me and I got to know where I need to improve. I worked really hard for this," Chanu told reporters at the Mixed Zone after winning the silver medal.
"When I reach India, I will go straight to my home, it has been a long time that I have not been home. It has been 1-2 years that I have not gone home and spent some time with my family. There is no plan as such, but I'll party today (laughs)," she added.
When asked whether she thought she could go for gold, Chanu said: "I tried my best to win the gold medal, I was not able to win the gold, but I really tried. When I did the second lift, I understood I'll bring a medal along with me."
Chanu lifted a total of 202 kg (87kg in snatch and 115kg in clean and jerk) during her four successful attempts across the competition. China's Zhihui Hou bagged gold with a total of 210kg and created a new Olympic Record while Indonesia's Windy Cantika Aisah grabbed bronze with a total of 194kg.
With this monumental silver medal, Chanu has become the second Indian weightlifter to win an Olympic medal after Karnam Malleswari bagged bronze in the 69kg category at the 2000 Sydney Games when the weightlifting arena was opened to women for the first time.
