"Good Luck" Earrings, Mother's Gift, Glint In Mirabai Chanu's Olympic Win

The hope was that the gifted earrings would bring Mirabai Chanu "good luck". It didn't happen in the Rio 2016 Games but they worked in Tokyo.

A historic silver medal and a radiant smile were not the only eye-catching things about Mirabai Chanu on Saturday, her gold earrings shaped like Olympic rings were as striking, a gift from her mother who sold her own jewellery for them five years ago. The hope was that the earrings would bring her "good luck". It didn't happen in the Rio 2016 Games but Ms Chanu made the little sacrifice count in Tokyo this morning with a silver medal and Saikhom Ongbi Tombi Leima has struggled to stop her tears from flowing ever since. "I saw the earrings on TV, I gave them to her in 2016 before the (Rio) Olympics. I have made it for her from the gold pieces and savings I have so that it brings luck and success," Saikhom Leima told PTI from her home in Manipur where a considerable number of relatives, friends and well-wishers gathered to watch Ms Chanu script history in Tokyo. "I was in tears seeing it and also during the moment she won the medal. Her father (Saikhom Kriti Meitei) was also in tears. Tears of joy. All her hard work has led to the success."