Tokyo Olympics: Mirabai Chanu told me our dream of winning a medal has been fulfilled, says coach

Jul 24, 2021

By Nitin Srivastava
New Delhi [India], July 24 : Mirabai Chanu's chief coach Vijay Sharma on Saturday said he is very happy after she won silver at the Tokyo Olympics and he also praised the weightlifter's work ethics.
Mirabai Chanu opened India's medals tally on Saturday as she bagged a silver in the Women's 49kg category at Tokyo International Forum.
"The setback of Rio Olympics has brought us here. The coach has an important role, if the player is not disciplined, then the coach cannot also do anything. I would say that Mirabai Chanu has a big role behind this performance, she is very dedicated and it is because of that, she has managed to win a silver medal," Sharma told ANI.
"We could have done better, but we are very happy with the silver medal. Mirabai Chanu told me that we have fulfilled our dream of winning a medal at the Olympics," he added.
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.