With most of her home country peacefully asleep, Linthoi Chanambam made history on Monday night when she grabbed a bronze medal at the Judo World Junior Championships in Lima, Peru.She defeated Joni Geilen of the Netherlands in the repechage round to bag the country’s first-ever medal in the Junior Worlds meet. This is her second medal in a worlds event after she bagged a gold in the World Cadet Championships in 2022 and she dedicated it to her long-time coach Mamuka Kizilashvili.“I dedicate this medal to my best coach, Mamuka Kizilashvili. We cried, we suffered, we failed, but you were always there with me. You deserve this medal more than I do. You always make me feel like I’m the best,” she wrote in a social media post.This is quite an achievement by the Manipuri judoka, who trains at Inspire Institute of Sport, considering where she was even a year back following her surgery in 2023 to fix the torn ACL on her left knee.“I was out for two years. I felt demotivated and lacked confidence. I used to lock myself in my room and cry,” said Linthoi before travelling to Lima.However, she had the support of her coach Kizilashvili, the support staff and her friends as she finally made it back to the mat. It wasn’t easy though.“I returned earlier this year, but I kept losing at first. That was another blow to my confidence, but I kept going. For me, even stepping back on the mat after two years was a victory. I’ve always loved judo and hated missing practice, so being away for so long was very hard,” added the 19-year-old.Her perseverance finally paid off when she grabbed a gold medal at the Berlin Junior European Cup in June and followed it up with a bronze at the Asian Junior Championships last month.Speaking of her victory in Berlin, she said, “I had won a worlds medal in the cadet category earlier, but that victory in Europe meant much more to me mentally. I can’t explain the joy I felt. I usually don’t post my wins on social media, but I had promised myself I would celebrate this one. After winning, I just let out a loud shout of joy.”She, however, understands she needs to keep getting better if she wants to challenge the best in the coming days. “There are still many technical aspects I need to work on, and my coach guides me through them. But I’ve already improved a lot in terms of mindset. I now enjoy my bouts. I’ve always had an aggressive and strong game and I will continue refining it,” she added.
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And to make sure there was no lack of preparation ahead of the worlds, she trained in Akhmeta, Georgia, since August. “It was part of a long-term judo programme envisioned by IIS, where I train with five other top athletes under coach Mamuka. We regularly compete in the European circuit, which helps us adapt to the physicality and pace of elite-level competitions that we don’t always face in the domestic circuit,” the youngster further said.It certainly had a huge impact on her performance as she beat Nour El Faqri of Morocco in the first round and followed it up with a win against Brazil’s Eduarda Bastos in the round of 16. She, however, lost to Japan’s So Morichika in the quarters. But then she grabbed back-to-back wins against Ilariia Tsurkan and Geilen to bag the medal.
