Tokyo 2020: Mother's good luck gift clicks as silver medallist Mirabai Chanu's Olympic earrings steal the show

 Mirabai Chanu's Olympic earrings have become almost as famous as her recent silver medal which she won on Saturday to open India's tally on Day 1 at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Mirabai Chanu is only the 2nd Indian weightlifter to win a Olympic medal after Karnam Malleswari (AFP Photo)

HIGHLIGHTS

• Mirabai Chanu's Olympic earrings were a gift from her mother Saikhom Leima
• Mirabai Chanu won the silver medal in women's weightlifting 49kg category at Tokyo 2020
• Mirabai is the first Indian to bag a medal on Day 1 of the Olympics and in the weightlifting event

Mirabai Chanu opened India's medals tally at Tokyo 2020 by coming second in the 49kg category final to become the first athlete from her country to win a silver medal in weightlifting and in this edition of the Games.

The silver medal shone like a bright star around her neck during the prize distribution ceremony but there was one more thing which everybody focused on as Mirabai Chanu stood on the podium, her earrings.

The 26-year-old weightlifter from Imphal spoke to India Today just hours after her silver-medal winning performance and revealed that she got piece of jewellery made after the heartbreak at Rio five years ago.

Mirabai Chanu's Tokyo silver helped her bury the ghosts of the previous Olympics in Brazil where she had failed in all three of her clean and jerk attempts.

"I was very sad after failing in the Rio Olympics. Then I won the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, after that I thought of keeping an Olympic ring with me. That is when I dreamt of winning an Olympic medal and that's when I made this earring and kept it with me.

"This silver medal is the result of all the sacrifices I have made in my life," Mirabai told India Today's Rahul Rawat in an exclusive interview.

It is hard to imagine that Mirabai was actually battling a stomach pain during her successful lifts of

Mirabai's medal also saw her complete the women's hat-trick for India at the Olympics. She is the third female athlete in a row to bag a medal for the country at the Games after PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik, who were India's only medal winners at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Mirabai however, is the only Indian to win a medal on the first day of the Olympics and she would like to believe that her mother's good-luck charm also played a part in her record-breaking performance.

"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," Mirabai's mother Saikhom Leima revealed.