New Delhi: Newly-crowned weightlifting World Champion Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (48kg) said that she thought of quitting the sport after receiving flak for her failure to win a medal at the Rio Olympics.
“I was really low after the Olympics. It took me a lot of time to get over the disappointment. I even thought of giving up the sport and stop training,” said Chanu, who recently became the second Indian after Karnam Malleswari to win a World Championship gold medal.
“I was thinking day and night how to get things right. I decided to do better than what I was doing because I knew that is the only way to stop people from talking. That was the only way to get over the hurt,” the weightlifter added.
Chanu said she had to work on her technique and go for regular sessions with a psychologist to get over her failure at Rio and answer her detractors.
“I did really bad at the Olympics. I had failed in clean & and jerk, so I discussed with my coach about it and brought few changes in my technique during training,” informed the lifter with a smile.
“My psychologist also played a big role. I used to go to him twice in a month but after the Olympics I started taking sessions every week and it really helped me,” added Chanu. She also asserted that she undergoes dope test twice a month. “Every week, I am tested for doping by NADA and WADA,” she said.
Crestfallen after the Olympics, Chanu did not go home and decided to work on her clean and jerk at the national camp in Patiala, but the Indian hopes to visit her native place early next year.
“I will play at Railways event starting December 11 and then there are the national championships in January. After that, I will speak to coach and hope to go to Imphal,” Chanu stated.
Press Trust of India
