Starting India's Olympic campaign in Tokyo with a bang, Mirabai Chanu elated the country by clinching a silver medal in the 49-kg weightlifting category, but her mother was "fully confident" that Mirabai would bring something for the country.
In an interview with India Today, Saikhom Tombi Devi said, "I was a little bit nervous about the result when I saw the early parts on the television. I was just hoping that the kind of work my daughter has put in will help her win a medal. My daughter is a very hardworking girl. I am proud to be Mirabai's mother," her mother said.
Mirabai is the first since Karnam Malleswari to bag any medal in weightlifting at the Olympics and also the first Indian weightlifter ever to win a silver medal.
"I am very happy that my daughter got a silver medal in Tokyo, it's really a dream come true. My daughter faced many hardships in the beginning. She used to go around 35 km sitting on the roof of sandy trucks for practise at Khuman Lampak Stadium in Imphal daily. I am proud of my daughter who brought this laurel for India,” her mother told the publication.
In Nongpok Sekmai, a village in the eastern corner of Imphal Valley, Mirabai spent her childhood working to support her family while fulfilling her dreams.
“While my other children would spend time studying and weaving, Mirabai would carry the firewood on her head to support me. Sometimes, we would spend three to four hours in the morning and a similar duration in the evening at the farm. And she would be only concerned about reducing my burden,” Tombi Dev told The Sunday Express.
"My husband would earn Rs 2,000-3,000 per month. We could not even afford a proper diet for Mirabai or her siblings,” she added.
Surprisingly young Mirabai wanted to become an archer. Her mother said that it was a chance encounter with a weightlifter that got her interested in weightlifting. To fulfill her dreams, she would travel 20 km away from her village to Imphal for training at the Khuman Lampak Stadium, where former Asian medallist Anita Chanu was the weightlifting coach.