Olympian Mirabai Chanu rewards truck drivers who helped her during training days

Mirabai Chanu, who won India’s first medal at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics, is now thanking all those who helped her win.

For the unversed, Chanu created history as she bagged a silver medal in the women’s 49 kg weightlifting event with a total lift of 202 Kg.

Chanu’s village Nongpok Kakching was about 30 km away from the Sports Academy in Imphal. As the commute to the sports academy from the village and vice versa was tough to find and since Chanu comes from an underprivileged family, private transport wasn’t an option. Hence Chanu used to hitch rides with truck drivers who used to carry sand to Imphal. These truck drivers regularly gave Mirabai Chanu a free lift to her training academy.

After bagging a medal at Olympics, Chanu tracked down those Good Samaritans and felicitated them.

NDTV reported that she treated around 150 truck drivers and helpers to a shirt, a Manipuri scarf and a full-course lunch.

Chanu said that free rides helped Mirabai and her family save up on the transport cost, and instead, the money went into her diet during her training days as a teen.

Below is how the netizens reacted.