30-Jul-2026

Exactly six days after the nation went into a state of shock following the merciless thrashing of peaceful student protesters by the police in India’s capital, New Delhi, partly to cover up some of their own failings, including the inability to accurately predict the estimated number of protesters likely to take part in the proposed march to the parliament on July 20, Mirabai Chanu, already a household name sports lady from Manipur cheered up a nation of 1.4 billion people by winning the first gold medal for India.  Her gold medal, the third in succession, was wrapped in patriotism. Her victory never in question because she was the best in her category. Though she started off the competition with a fumble, she regained composure in quick time as all great athletes do, and never looked back thereafter till she walked to the highest point of the podium. What a feat from a great athlete!  

Apart from her exemplary performance, there were also other high points in her competition this time which was not entirely a sporting requirement. The Olympic Silver medallist entered the weightlifting arena with élan; confidence written all over her face. She also sported butterfly-shaped hair clips made from tricolour ribbons; a tribute she admitted was to a nation she was determined to make proud. After she emerged as the best and stood tall on the podium, she could not control her emotions as the Indian Tricolour went up and the national anthem was played, perhaps inducing similar emotions to millions of Indians watching the live telecast. In her post-victory conversation to the PTI, Mirabai Chanu said, "I wanted to do something for India, so I made these butterfly clips in Indian flag-coloured ribbons.” Also commenting about her emotions atop the podium, she said, “They were tears of joy because I won the first gold for India in this edition of the Commonwealth games. Seeing the Indian flag go up and hearing our national anthem just makes tears flow naturally."

Well, it's common for sportsmen and women to shed tears of joy, particularly under some circumstances like in her present instance – winning the gold for the third time in succession and maybe for the last time in this category. But the choice to sport the Indian tricolour butterfly clips, one thought, was simply brilliant. Weightlifting officials did not insist on it, nor was this a standardised practice followed by the Indian weightlifting team. It was her personal choice. It only showed that she too wore her patriotism up her sleeves like any other Indian citizen contrary to the general perception. The question remains: will the rest of India ever appreciate these finer points? Apart from rejoicing when sportsmen and women from the North East region won medals for the country, there are still sections of Indian society doubting the patriotic depth of people from the region. The fact that name calling and racial slurring are still widely prevalent in many parts of India, including the country’s capital, Delhi, is testimony to this mindset.

Also, there are reasons why wins by Mirabai Chanu and other athletes from Manipur must be given a different level of pedestal because life in the state has not been normal for the last three years. With so much of uncertainties surrounding public life, one never knows what is coming next. The obituary of the Rule of law in the state has long been written because the responsibility of ensuring the safety and security of common people has since been outsourced to non-state entities, while the empathy from the state and central governments are undeniably diminishing every passing day. Some may argue that these athletes trained in a different atmosphere, far away from the disturbing state of affairs. But, with numerous uncertainties hanging over the state, the athletes from this state must have been mentally under stress all the time, unsure of what would happen to their family members or when, while the concentrations needed is of the highest level to be able to compete in high stake competition as this. It is, therefore, commendable that our athletes emerged as pathbreakers in scripting the success stories of sportsmen and women of the country.

The game is far from over, but some of the success stories of Indian athletes are heartwarming. Muthupadi Raja, the son of a daily wager from the Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu, won silver despite facing numerous challenges, including injuries that prevented him from training actively for years. Likewise, for Rishikanta Singh Chanam, who lifted a silver medal in his category, life wouldn’t have been easy going with his father being treated for blood cancer. One hopes their stories inspire millions and fuel determinations to grow as credible athletes of this country. We salute all of them for making the country proud.