The enchanting smile and joy on her face when she won the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics showed the level of dedication, sacrifice and hardships that she had gone through to edge her way into the most iconic sporting moments for India. Her silver medal at the women’s 49-kg weightlifting class is a culmination of the journey she had in her life through all the injuries and emotional pain.
She was born in the small district of Nongpok Kakching in Manipur on 8th August 1994. Mirabai at a very young age displayed great strength as she used to pick up more firewood than his elder brother could, this did not go unnoticed as her mother saw this feat and pursued her to take up weightlifting as a sport. Mirabai wanted to take up archery when she read about it but the iconic weightlifter from Manipur Kunjarani Devi completely changed her perspective. When she was 12 years old she went to the Khuman Lampak Stadium in Imphal to enroll herself for the archery competition but the archery centre was closed, this in turn made her enroll for weightlifting where she just continued to excel with age.
This accidentally turned weightlifter herself didn't realize how good she was at this sport until she started traveling 20km from her village to the capital everyday to train. This hard work and grind of her eventually led her to the national weightlifting camp in Delhi where she got professional training from weightlifting coaches. Her meteoric rise began when she got her first breakthrough at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where she won the silver medal at the age of 20. The rise to the top was relatively quick for her as in the year after that she qualified for the Rio Olympics, which was quite an achievement as she became the first female to qualify for the Olympics from Manipur in weightlifting.
The Rio Olympics was an eye opener for her as inexperience cost her dearly in that tournament. She had failed to register a single lift in the entirety of the competition which resulted in her being last. This particular tournament was a life changing event for her, as she learnt the hard way that life is not always a fairy tale story. The hardworking and vigorous women realised that bad days at these particular big tournaments are a part and parcel of the game. It is the work after such a setback that defines a sports women's mentality. After her setback she practically moved to Patiala for 5 years where she along with her current coach Vijay Sharma worked day and night for Tokyo 2020.
Ever since the Rio Olympics she became a world class athlete proving herself in every single tournament she participated in, so much so that she created a world record by lifting 119kg in the clean and jerk in the Asian Championship. These are some of the few accolades she had managed during the five year tenure but the main thing she developed was consistency which is such an important aspect in her sport. It is this consistency that athletes shed their blood and sweat to achieve but in Mirabai's situation she knew that if she achieved what she had set out to achieve then no one could stop her from inspiring millions of girls in India.
It is not only the hardwork and sacrifice that makes her a great sportswoman but the fact of being humble in success and not forgetting your roots is a major reason why she’ll become a sports icon for the youngsters. Little things like wearing her mothers gifted earrings in the competition to meeting the truck drivers who used to give her a lift from her village to the main city only shows what kind of a woman she is. Part of her success is credited to her long term coach Vijay Sharma who spent the longest time with her, he groomed her into a proper world champion and moreover their relationship is more like a father daughter relationship which was the driving factor for her career.
The very fact that a nation of 1.35 billion people watched her perform extraordinarily on the television will only act as a catalyst for Indian sports in general. People especially at the grassroot level may take her up as a role model and more importantly they will strive to achieve her success. The effect of this medal is not going to be short term but a long process in which she is breaking the common stereotypes and inspiring not only the girls but also the parents to let the girls pursue their dreams and aspirations.
Also read: Teary homecoming: Mirabai Chanu breaks down on meeting mother
