Winning medal at Olympics is a dream come true, dedicate it to my country, says Mirabai Chanu

New Delhi: After winning a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, weightlifter Mirabai Chanu on Saturday said this is a dream come true and also thanked the entire country for praying for her victory.

Mirabai Chanu opened India’s medals tally on Saturday as she bagged a silver in the Women’s 49kg category at Tokyo International Forum.

“It’s really a dream come true for me. I would like to dedicate this medal to my country and would like to thank the billion prayers of all Indians which were with me during this journey. I like to thank my family especially my mother for a lot of sacrifices and believing in me,” said Chanu in a statement posted on her Twitter account.

I am really happy on winning silver medal in #Tokyo2020 for my country ?? pic.twitter.com/gPtdhpA28z

— Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (@mirabai_chanu) July 24, 2021

“Also special thanks to our government for supporting me, Ministry of Sports, SAI, I0A, Weightlifting Federation of India, Railways, OGQ, sponsors, and my marketing agency IOS for their continuous support in this journey,” she added.

Further in her statement, Chanu said: “I would like to give special thanks to my coach Vijay Sharma sir and support staff for their continuous hard work, motivation, and training. Thank you once again entire weightlifting fraternity and all my countrymen.”

Chanu lifted a total of 202 kg (87kg in snatch and 115kg in clean and jerk) during her four successful attempts across the competition. China’s Zhihui Hou bagged gold with a total of 210kg and created a new Olympic Record while Indonesia’s Windy Cantika Aisah grabbed bronze with a total of 194kg.

With this monumental silver medal, Chanu has become the second Indian weightlifter to win an Olympic medal after Karnam Malleswari bagged bronze in the 69kg category at the 2000 Sydney Games when the weightlifting arena was opened to women for the first time.