Indian Athletes congratulate Mirabai Chanu for her Olympics exploits

Indian Olympians past and present took to social media to wish the Manipuri athlete.

Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu became the first Indian athlete to win a medal at the Olympic Games this year. The 26-year-old won the silver medal in the women’s weightlifting 49kg category. In the process, she became only the second Indian woman to win an Olympic medal in women’s weightlifting.

Several Indian athletes took to Twitter to congratulate the Manipuri weightlifter for her phenomenal achievement.

Sakshi Malik, who won the bronze medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016, tweeted, " Mirabai Chanu wins silver medal in 49 kg Women's Weightlifting and made India proud. Congratulations @mirabai_chanu !".

Boxer, Amit Pangal and wrestler, Bajrang Punia, who are also at the Tokyo Olympic Games with Mirabai Chanu, did not fail to congratulate the weightlifter. Amit said, "Many Many Congratulations to #Mirabai_Chanu For SILVER in women's 49kg weightlifting!"

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Bajrang Punia also congratulated Mirabai and highlighted the importance of her early medal. He said, "Congratulations for a beautiful opening on medal tally @mirabai_chanu . This medal is a morale boost for our Indian contingent. Thank you for a spectacular performance…… jai hind"

Veteran boxer, Vijendar Singh and tennis star, Rohan Bopanna also congratulated the silver medalist and the nation on a massive achievement.

Pistol Shooter Heena Sidhu also took to Twitter to celebrate the achievement. Sidhu exclaimed, "So so proud of you Mirabai Chanu and @OGQ_India... You guys have done it!! She has lifted the whole nation today. Congratulations and thankyou for making us feel this way...we live for moments like these."

Mirabai indeed carried the nation on her shoulders today. She finished the event with an overall score of 202 kgs. The Manipuri weightlifter lifted 87 kgs in the snatch category before setting a personal best of 115 kgs in the clean & jerk category. Mirabai almost bested herself with a 117 kgs lift but failed right at the very end. It was a phenomenal performance from the 26-year-old who secured India’s first medal in the Summer Games.

Assamese sprinter Hima Das, who missed out on the Tokyo Olympics due to a last-minute hamstring injury, thinks that this medal would be the first of many. She congratulated Mirabai and said that she was super proud of her.

Fellow weightlifter, Jeremy Lalrinnunga, celebrated the achievement with a lot of zeal amongst a group of people. Jeremy was seen dancing with his team to celebrate India's first medal in the Olympic Games.

Tennis Player, Somdev Devvarman, took a rather humorous approach to congratulate Mirabai. Devvarman took to Twitter and said that someone must order Mirabai a lifetime supply of Pizza and Ice cream.