Imphal: Manipur’s Linthoi Chanambam, who became the first Indian to clinch gold at the World Judo championship, received a rousing homecoming welcomed upon her arrival at Imphal airport by family, friends and well-wishers on Tuesday.
A 15-year-old Judoka Linthoi Chanambam took home gold after she finished number one at the podium in the women’s 57 kg contest at the recently concluded World Judo championship in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She is the first world champion from India across any age group in judo.
In July, she won a gold medal at the Asian Cadet and Junior Judo championship 2022 in Bangkok. Linthoi first showed glimpses of her talent when she won gold at the sub-Junior National Championships in 2018.
Born to a farmer parents residing in Mayang Imphal and one of three daughters, Linthoi is one of the few judokas from the country to be part of the ‘Target Olympic Podium (TOP)’ scheme, a flagship of the Union Sports Ministry. The TOPS programme is primarily meant for elite athletes, considered Olympics medal prospects.
For the last five years, the young Judoka from Manipur has been training really hard under the head coach Mamuka Kizilashvili, one of Georgia’s top coaches in Judo, at the JSW-Inspire Institute of Sports In Bellary, Karnataka.
Earlier, while expressing his heartfelt congratulations and appreciation for India’s brightest prospects on the Judo mat, chief minister N Biren Singh also assured that the state government will honour Linthoi Chanambam for her contribution.
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