Dibya Kamal Bordoloi
The truck drivers regularly gave Mirabai Chanu a lift to her training academy and Chanu gets emotional while thanking them for their contribution to her successful journey.
Imphal: She bags the first medal for India in the Tokyo Olympics. The entire nation hailed her for the magnificent show. But Mirabai Chanu didn't forget the true helping hands from her training days. Her home was more than 25 km away from the Sports Academy, where she imparted weightlifting training in Imphal. Public transportation was very limited in those days in Manipur. She was unable to afford private transport. The only means of transport was trucks which carried river sands to the City. These truck drivers regularly gave Mirabai Chanu a lift to her training academy. It was a genuine help lent by those truck drivers in making Olympics silver medalist Mirabai Chanu. On Thursday (August 5), Mirabai rewarded these truck drivers back at her home.
Chanu gets emotional while thanking truck drivers for their contribution to her successful journey. In a video that is doing rounds on social media, the champion weightlifter was seen extending gratitude to the truck drivers who used to provide her lifts to reach the Khuman Lampak for her practice sessions. “I don’t have any words to express my happiness and gratitude in front of you all, without your help, I wouldn’t be able reach at this level. It was always my wish to thank you all to express my gratitude. I am feeling so emotional and I feel like crying while remembering those days,” She said. The truck drivers never charged any money from Chanu and always made her feel safe on her journey to the stadium.
She also presented them with a ‘khudai’, a traditional Manipuri shawl gifted to brothers.
It should be mentioned that Saikhom Mirabai Chanu has been appointed in the rank of Additional Superintendent of Police ( Sports) by the N Biren Singh government.
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