Former Indian cricket team captain Sachin Tendulkar on Wednesday met with Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu at his home in Mumbai. Mirabai Chanu is being celebrated all across India after she became the first woman from the country to win the silver medal in weightlifting at the Olympics last month.
Mirabai Chanu is only the second Indian after Karnam Malleswari to clinch a medal in weightlifting in over two decades. Malleswari had clinched the bronze in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Chanu opened the country’s account with a silver in the women’s 49 kg category at the Tokyo Games to become the first Indian to clinch a medal for the country on the first day of the Olympics.
Both Chanu and Tendulkar took to social media to show their mutual appreciation for each other and how much they enjoyed the meeting.
“Loved meeting @sachin_rt Sir this morning! His words of wisdom & motivation shall always stay with me. Really inspired,” Chanu tweeted.
Tendulkar replied to Chanu just a couple of hours later.
“Equally happy to meet you this morning, @mirabai_chanu! It was wonderful talking to you about your inspiring journey from Manipur to Tokyo. You’ve got places to go in the coming years, keep working hard.
The Olympic silver was the one medal the former world champion was desperately waiting for.
The diminutive iron lady from Manipur lifted a total of 202kg (87kg+115kg) to better Karnam Malleswari’s bronze in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. With this, she exorcised the ghosts of the 2016 Games where she had failed to log a single legitimate lift, leaving her shattered.
