Tokyo: India's Mirabai Chanu bagged a silver medal in the women's 49 kg weightlifting event on Saturday in Tokyo. India's win of the silver medal on the second day of the tournament has created enthusiasm in sports fans. After Karnam Malleswari's bronze medal in the weightlifting competition in 2000, after 21 years Mirabai brings home a silver medal. Prime Minister Modi, President Ramnath Govind and various party leaders of the country poured in congratulatory messages for the champion weightlifter.
Mirabai Chanu, 26, has been on a strict diet for the past few months ahead of the showpiece event. After winning the silver medal, in an interview given Mirabai said, I haven’t even eaten a pizza in a long time. So, first I'm going to buy a pizza.
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Taking note of this, Domino's Pizza, an American multinational pizza restaurant chain, offered Mirabai free pizzas for life. Taking to Twitter, Domino's India wrote: "We never want Mirabai Chanu to wait to eat pizza again, so we are treating her to Free Domino's pizza for life!"
Mirabai's journey to glory is an inspiration for aspiring sports personalities in the country. Since the setback in the Rio Olympics 2016, her performance has been on an ascent. After a disastrous outing in the 2016 Rio Olympics, Mirabai fought depression. She rose up to the World Championship event in 2017 to become a champion. In 2018, she beat her own national record. In 2021, ahead of the Olympics, she set a new world record in the clean and jerk and finally, the 26-year-old weightlifter bagged silver at the prestigious Tokyo Olympics.