Tokyo Olympic 2021-#10 Things you don't know about Saikhom Mirabai Chanu

 

Inspiring Real Struggle Behind Saikhom Mirabai Chanu's Silver Medal at Tokyo Olympics

Mirabai was born in 1994 in a hamlet 20 kilometres from Imphal's city in Nongpok Kakching

Mirabai is from a low-income household. She is a regular girl with great ambitions. She worked on them despite the fact that her family could not afford her diet and exercise.

Mirabai's father, Saikhom Kriti Singh, was a construction worker for the Manipur Public Works Department, but his salary was insufficient. Her mother would support the family by running a modest tea shop on the local main road.

Growing up in a low-income household Cooking was done on a mud hearth at home. She used to help her brother to obtain firewood from the nearby forest. Since she was a child, she has lifted more than her older brother. She was constantly worried about easing the family's hardship.

She began her training in 2007 and drove 20 kilometres each day. Each day, she had to arrive at 6 a.m. Sometimes she had to stay at the academy as they would do the training twice. She eats homemade steamed black and white rice with boiled vegetables. Sometimes she had to stay at the academy as they would do the training twice. She eats home-made steamed black and white rice with boiled vegetable

Mirabai wanted to join archery when she was 12 years old, but at that time, there was no training for archery scheduled there at the centre of the Sports Authority of India.  She was influenced greatly by Manipur's weightlifter Kunjurani Devi. Mirabai chose to become a weight lifter after seeing Kunjurni Devi. After only one year of training, she won the Under-15 championship at the age of 11 and the Junior championship at the age of 17.

In 2009, She won gold in the Youth Championships in Chhattisgarh. Within five years, she was lifting a total of 170 kg, good enough for a silver medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. That year, she began working with her current coach, Vijay Sharma, and by 2016, she had broken Kunjarani Devi's 12-year-old record of 190 kg.

In the National Selections trial at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, she broke a 12-year old record. She was considered a strong chance for a medal when she qualified for the Olympics after smashing the record. Unfortunately, She did not receive an overall total since she did not record a valid lift in any of her three clean and jerk attempts.

After Judge disqualified her due to incorrect lifts. She was "very saddened and utterly devastated", and she couldn't stop crying. She was going through so much mentally that she needed to consult a phycologist. In an interview, she added, the social media troll and criticism directed at her coach wounded her, and she wanted to quit the sport and stop training.

She turned her failed experience into a lesson, She initially silenced her critics when she won gold at the 2017 World Championships. In 2018. She not only won the gold medal in the 48 kg division, but she also won the bronze medal at Commonwealth Games, which were held in Australia

The Government of India honoured her with the Padma Shri honor for her services to sports. In 2018, the Government of India bestowed the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on her.

Everything was going nicely. Then life took another turn. She sustained a lower back injury. A physical examination of Chanu showed many troubling findings, including right shoulder instability and weakness, left shoulder mobility limits, and left hip mobility and stability problems. Asymmetries resulted in increased loads on the firmer side, which resulted in imbalances.

Vijay Sharma, her coach, decided to send her to St. Louis, Missouri, to train and recover under Dr. Aaron Horschig, a former weightlifter who is now one of the country's most famous physiotherapists. With so many ups and downs, she always manages to maintain her bravery and keep going forward.

She made an incredible return in 2019 in the World Championships in Thailand.  This is such a heartwarming tale. She set a new world record in the women's 49 kg category after 4 months of rigorous training before the Olympics. She was the lone weightlifter to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics and has been focusing on her snatch performance.

Mirabai's journey from heartbreak in the Rio Olympics to nearly abandoning the sport to winning a silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics is a really remarkable one.

Her post-Olympic gold remark captured the hearts of the entire country. She added " I am very happy to win the first medal for India at these games. I don't just belong to Manipur, I belong to the whole country"- Chanu Saikhom Mirabai

#10 things you didn't know about Mirabai Chanu

1. Accidentally weightlifting to Olympic: Mirabai intended to be an archer, but after seeing some footage of Kunjarani Devi, another famous weightlifter from Manipur, the idea of becoming a weightlifter came to her.
2. Mirabai is the youngest of six siblings.
3.  Mirabai Chanu was 11 years old, she earned her first gold medal in a local weightlifting tournament
4. .Mirabai Chanu is from Manipur, Imphal, and was born on August 8, 1994, in Imphal. She is 26 years old.
5. Anita Chanu was Mirabai's first trainer, and she introduced her to weight lifting.
6. Mirabai  joined the Indian Railways as a Cheif Ticket Inspector, In 2018 she was promoted to the rank of officer
7. Saikhom Mirabai Chanu is pronounced as "Sye- Khom" Meera- bye' " Chaa- nuu"
8. Mirabai Chanu's height is 4.11 feet
9. Mirabai Chanu social Media Accounts, Instagram @mirabai_chanu Facebook @Saikhom Mirabai Chanu

10. Her Religion: Hinduism (Laininthou Sanamahi)