Tokyo Olympics: Mirabai Chanu's emotional reunion with mother after historic weightlifting silver
Much like the reception at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday, Chanu was met with media frenzy at the Bir Tikendrajit International Airport in Imphal, Manipur.
In Short
- Mirabai Chanu hails form Nongpok Kakching village in Manipur
- Mirabai Chanu won the silver medal in the women's 49kg category
- Mirabai Chanu was met with media frenzy at airport in Imphal
It was an emotional reunion for Olympic silver-medallist Mirabai Chanu with her mother.
Chanu, who won the silver medal in the women's 49kg category on Saturday, was seen hugging her mother Saikhom Ongbi Tombi Leima and her father Saikhom Kriti Meitei with tears rolling down her face as security guards formed a ring around her.
A mother- daughter moment@mirabai_chanu #WelcomeHomeMirabaiChanu pic.twitter.com/2eiVGxFSzH — Rahul Trehan (@imrahultrehan) July 27, 2021
“I can’t wait to see my mother. I will be travelling to Manipur tomorrow and will spend quality time with my mother,” Mirabai Chanu has told Sports Tak in an exclusive interview on Monday.
The now famous gold earrings, shaped like the Olympic rings, that Chanu sported at the Games were a gift from her mother who sold her own jewellery for them five years ago ahead of the Rio Games in the hope of bringing the weightlifter luck.
A stringent training regimen after the 2016 Rio Games had limited Chanu's visits to home for the past five years. The 26-year-old hails form Nongpok Kakching village, which is around 25km from Imphal.
The Manipuri athlete landed at the New Delhi Airport on Monday and was received by a rousing reception with chants of "Bharat Mata ki Jai" among others.
Much like the reception at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Chanu was met with media frenzy at the Bir Tikendrajit International Airport in Imphal.
From the airport, Chanu went to attend a Manipur state government felicitation, which was hosted by the chief minister N Biren Singh.
The 26-year-old lifted a total of 202kg (87kg+115kg) to better Karnam Malleswari's bronze in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
The diminutive weightlifter has six siblings, three sisters and two brothers.
As the celebrations started at home, Mirabai's brother Biont Meetei walked down memory lane to recall how she would pick up wood from the jungle and showed her strength even as a small child.
“Mirabai eats a lot of vegetables. She loves drinking juices. She would go to the jungle to pluck fruits and pick wood. She has always been a strong girl. She would go to the jungle to pick wood which we needed to cook food,” Mirabai’s brother, Biont Meetei, told indiatoday.in.