SILVER MEDAL

And women’s world No. 1 archer Deepika Kumari and Praveen Jadhav in mixed team archery. Yet, it was not their day, sparking fears that this could be yet another Olympics where India would have to wait anxiously for a medal.

Five long years

wrong for her. Of the six attempts given to lifters — three in snatch, three in clean & jerk — she had managed to complete just one lift in snatch.

Three months ago at the Asian Championships, she had almost relived that horror, with two no-lifts in snatch.

It’s the kind of thing that ends careers. Not for Chanu.

“We have spoken so many times about that day in the Rio Olympics in these five years,” said coach Sharma. “Every time I would tell her that she is now a different athlete. It is that incident that has brought us where we are today,” he added.

In Tokyo, if she was still haunted by those memories of Rio, she did not show it. From the moment her event started, Chanu’s body language was confident and relaxed. On her ears she wore gold earrings in the shape of the Olympic logo, gifted to her by her mother after her Rio experience.

For her first attempt — 84kg in snatch — she stepped to the stage and bowed to the bar. Then, in one clean motion, Chanu had cleared the lift. She flashed her big smile. She was in control. She was ready to script her extraordinary tale of redemption.

For her next lift, she cleared 87kg with comfort. She beamed. Only Zhihui, who also holds the world record for snatch, was lifting more. Chanu could not finish her last snatch, where she attempted 89, more than she had ever done. It didn’t matter much, because next up was clean & jerk, which Chanu has made her own. She cleared 110kg on her first attempt with such consummate ease that it looked like she was in training. By the time she was going for her second lift, set at 115kg, the entire field except Zhihui had already fallen away.

In the end, the 7kg difference between Chanu’s best snatch (87kg) and Zhihui’s best (94kg) decided the medal. “The amount of discipline and commitment she has shown is extraordinary. You see how mentally strong she was today. That comes only with great hard work,” Sharma said.

“During these rough times of the pandemic, when lives have come to an abrupt halt and mere survival has become an isolating task, victories such as yours will serve as a small reminder of the joy that hope and perseverance can bring,” read a letter addressed to Chanu by Abhinav Bindra, India’s only Olympic gold medallist.

From Rio to the silver in Tokyo was a journey that involved meticulous training, a psychologist, fixing a bad back and realigning her posture with the help of Aaron Horschig, a former weightlifter who is now a renowned physical therapist and strength coach in the US, winning the world championship in 2017, gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, a bronze at the 2020 Asian Championships and becoming the world No 1.

In a way, a medal in Tokyo was always within her strong grasp. But when it came — on a day when India were contenders in three other medal events but did not win in any of them — Chanu’s joy was infectious and may just be what the young Indian contingent needs as inspiration.

CHANU COULD NOT FINISH HER LAST SNATCH, WHERE SHE ATTEMPTED

89, MORE THAN SHE HAD EVER DONE. IT DIDN’T MATTER MUCH, BECAUSE NEXT UP WAS CLEAN & JERK