What was the first thing on Mirabai Chanu’s mind after winning the silver medal? Home. It has been more than a year since she has visited her parents and her siblings in the house where she grew up in Nongpok Kakching near Imphal.
“I just want to go home first. I have not been home for close to two years. Even when I have gone it’s been for a very brief period,” Chanu told reporters after her win. “It has been a struggle of five years. I have only thought of training and competition.”
During the lockdown last year, she spent that entire period- 68 days – at the National Sports Institute in Patiala, where India’s elite weightlifters train. Since the weightlifting hall had been closed during that time, she could not even train, except to do basic exercises in her room. It took her two months to return to shape when the national camp finally reopened. Despite these interruptions and the pandemic scare, Chanu remained in training in Patiala, speaking to her mother every day over video calls.
On the day of the competition, Chanu said she woke up with a strong feeling that she would win.
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“I was thinking of the podium and the gold medal. I was visualising how I would stand on the podium and what would be the feeling like. All that made me positive,” she said. “I wanted to go there and put all that I have been doing in training. If I could do that, I know I would win a medal, I told myself.
It was exactly what happened. Chanu’s lifts during the event were executed with flawless technique and timing.
“I was feeling good from the start today and I have worked on my snatch and after the second lift in clean and jerk I was relieved that I will get the silver.”
Chanu has less than two days remaining in the Games Village – Covid protocols demand that all athletes leave Tokyo 48 hours after the completion of their event, but the diminutive lifter would like to make the most of that time, starting with a welcome pizza after spending months eating only according to her strict nutritional plan.
“I would like to have a party but the Village rules are very strict,” she said. “Maybe I can have a pizza.”
On Friday, a day before the competition, Chanu had cramps from her periods but she fought through it.
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“She was in a bit of pain but she is so strong that it doesn’t matter,” said her coach Vijay Sharma. “She was fixed on her target.”
The 26-year-old’s calm, happy demeanor on the biggest stage for her sport, where athletes are usually the most nervous they have ever been in their lives, was one of the remarkable aspects of Chanu’s performance.
“I realised after the Rio Olympics that I needed to clear my mind and worked with a psychologist,” Chanu said. “I was so sad after losing in Rio and I asked myself why did it happen to me? I understood it was my first Olympics and the pressure was different. So, I had to prepare better for Tokyo. I think what I achieved today is because of that failure in Rio. I covered all the bases here in Tokyo.”
On that journey, Sharma was a constant companion. “We made changes to her training and it started showing results from the 2017 World Championships. As she won medals at international events it kept showing us that we are on the right path. I have not seen a harder working and more disciplined trainee.”
Her teammates in Patiala too said that Chanu inspires them with her single-minded focus to the sport.
“She doesn’t take a break. She is always on time, and we have never seen her taking a cheat day,” said 18-year-old Jeremy Lalrinnunga, the youth Olympic gold medallist from Manipur. “We are so happy for her.”
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