Little girl imitates Mirabai Chanu's splendid Olympics performance; here's how she responded

Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, July 27

Mirabai Chanu ended India’s over two-decade-long wait for a weightlifting medal at the Olympics, clinching the 49kg category silver medal five years after leaving the same platform in tears following a disastrous debut.

Chanu has received praise from all quarters for her amazing feat. But just how inspiring her win was revealed when weightlifter Sathish Sivalingam shared a video of a small girl lifting on Twitter. Chanu’s win plays on the TV behind the girl, who keeps looking towards her for inspiration. The girl imitates Chanu’s moves right till the end.

Responding to the video, Chanu said: “So cute. Just love this”.

The diminutive iron lady from Manipur lifted a total of 202kg (87kg 115kg) to better Karnam Malleswari’s bronze in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. With this, she exorcised the ghosts of the 2016 Games where she had failed to log a single legitimate lift, leaving her shattered.

“I am very happy, I have been dreaming of this for the past five years. I am very proud of myself right now. I did try for gold but even silver is a great achievement for me,” Chanu told reporters after her career-defining triumph for which she had been training in the US for past few months.

The 2016 experience was a watershed in her career and Chanu had spoken about how confused she had felt during her debut at the biggest stage. There was none of those nerves to be seen on Saturday, just a very composed and focussed athlete who knew she was destined for the podium.

“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,” she added in response to a query on what it meant for her as a Manipuri.

Her smile shone the brightest during the entire performance on Saturday but also hard to miss were the Olympic rings’ shaped earrings that she was sporting, which were a gift from her mother.–with PTI