From collecting fuelwood to medal, Mirabai Chanu stands as an inspiration for the entire nation

• Mirabai Chanu, the 26-year-old world record holding weightlifter hails from Nongpok Kakching in Imphal, Manipur.
• Mirabai became the first individual to win a medal for India on the first day of the Olympics ever.
• She became the first one to win the silver medal for the country in weightlifting in Tokyo Olympics.

Mirabai Chanu, who hails from the underrated Meitei community from the North-Eastern state of Manipur has created history today by winning the Silver medal on the very first day of the Olympics for India in Tokyo. This being said, it wasn’t as easy for her to achieve.

Mirabai’s talent was first spotted when her brothers realised their sister picks up fuelwood with ease in the jungle. Thanks to them because she is right now the only second woman after Karnam Malleswari to win a medal for India in weightlifting in Olympics.

She became the first individual to win a medal for India on the first day of the Olympic summer games ever. She was already the favourites to win a medal in the women’s 49kg category but her achievement holds a special place after her Rio 2016 ‘debacle’.

Mirabai would watch successful athletes on television and would ask herself, “if other’s can, why can’t I?” This simple looking innocent question made by Mirabai to herself has now earned her a silver medal at Tokyo.

After her historical medal-winning achievement, the biggest faces from the space of politics, arts and sports congratulated her on the achievement. The most important of them all was PM Modi, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.

After witnessing her success in Tokyo, Biont Meetei took the media by surprise when he shared the inspiring story of Mirabai Chanu and how she used to collect fuelwood in her childhood. He also shared how she loves eating vegetables and drinking juices. “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.”

In the entire episode of her rising from the ashes to flying high in the sky like a phoenix, the Government of India was with the champion throughout.

In a series of tweets post the achievement she has taken it to Twitter to update everyone on her achievement in a thank you note. She dedicated the medal to the country and said she would like to thank the billion of prayers that were with her in the journey. She also thanked the Government of India, Ministry of Sports, IOA, SAI, Weightlifting federation of India, Railways, OGQ, sponsors and her marketing agency IOQ.

A sportsperson faces numerous personal and professional battles to sniff the scent of success in his/her life. This fact holds more importance in a country like India where both the socio-economic status of the people and the general sporting culture of the population have always been below average.

But lately, the trend has changed. With the public limelight post success and government intervention, things have changed and drastically so.