On Teacher’s Day, Indian weightlifting star Mirabai Chanu reflected on her relationship with her well-known coach Vijay Sharma. They have been awarded medals, defeat, struggle and lessons and yet for Chanu, despite all of the success, she is still Vijay Sharma’s student.
Chanu was only 18 years old when she first met Sharma at a junior training camp in Patiala in 2013. A year later, the two began working together, and it would go on to be one of India’s biggest achievements in weightlifting. Mirabai has won an Olympic silver medal and several Commonwealth Games gold medals over the years, and is one of India’s top athletes.
But the weightlifter says fame and medals have not changed her view of her coach. For the 32-year-old athlete, the relationship with Sharma goes far beyond training sessions, competitions and sporting achievements.
“With all these medals, all this fame and love, the one thing that can never change is that main aaj bhi sabse pehle apne Vijay sir ki student hun,” Mirabai said.
She added that no matter how successful she gets, she will always remain “my sir’s Mira” and never let her achievements change the bond she shares with her mentor.
Mirabai also said she considers Vijay Sharma more than just a coach. She said he is someone that she can approach with questions about weightlifting but also with personal thoughts and problems in life.
The Olympic medallist said she can speak to him openly whenever she fails or needs advice. She even joked about wanting to remain her coach’s favourite student, saying she thinks she’s already quite high on that list.
But Mirabai says other athletes sometimes approach Sharma through her because they feel more comfortable doing so. She said when some students are reluctant to speak to the coach directly, they often follow her, believing that “Mira ki toh sir sunnenge hi.”
For Mirabai, the relationship has turned into something like a family connection. While she has parents, she says Vijay Sharma is like a “second father” in her life.
One of the most important things Chanu learned from her coach is staying calm. Sharma has told her to relax and to stop making decisions in anger, she said.
“Sir always tells me, ‘Mira relax... Mira calm down,’” she said.
Mirabai admits during the tough training sessions that she can be frustrated or angry. At these times she remembers what her coach told her, and she tries to remain calm. Sharma also has advised her to never forget why she began weightlifting in the first place— because she liked the sport.
That simple reminder, Chanu says, helps to keep her grounded after all the success.
She also praised Sharma’s ability to identify and understand each of his athletes individually. Each of the students are from different backgrounds and have different strengths, mentalities, and experiences, Mirabai notes. She believes her coach has the ability to recognise the individual qualities of each athlete and know what they need to improve on.
Mirabai said that if she ever starts coaching young athletes in the future, this is one of the most important lessons she would like to teach. She wants to be that teacher who understands each student as an individual and not to treat everyone the same.
For Vijay Sharma, the bond with Mirabai is equally emotional. The chief national weightlifting coach and Dronacharya Awardee has led India to many major accomplishments in weightlifting. He has won eight weightlifting medals at the Commonwealth Games under his leadership with Mirabai as the best among his top performers.
But Sharma thinks the success of their partnership is not just technical training.
“The bond that I have with Mira outside is the biggest reason behind our success,” he said.
For him, Mirabai is family before she is a student.
“Woh meri beti pehle hai fir student,” Sharma said, explaining that even though she is now an Olympic medallist, nothing has changed in the way he sees her.
As an elite athlete becomes more accomplished, so does a coach’s position. Sharma said that one of his most fundamental responsibilities is to always make sure that his athletes never lose their hunger for success.
Mirabai still has goals to achieve. In her career, one of the big targets is to win a medal at the Asian Games, something she is working towards.
Sharma believes that every success is a steppingstone for the next one. He told us that when they achieve big victories, he immediately tells his athletes to focus on another goal and always work on that so they never feel like they've got it all.
At the same time, Sharma insists that a coach must also be improving. He says he cannot expect his athletes to grow unless he is willing to learn and develop himself.
Sharma also says Mirabai has taught him valuable lessons. Her dedication and discipline are qualities that have inspired him, the coach said.
He thinks that if a person has the same level of commitment to her training as Mirabai brings to her training, very little can stop them from achieving their goals.
Sharma says one memory is going to stay in his mind forever from Mirabai. It was during the moment she won her Olympic medal and said something backstage that he would never forget.
“Sir, bas aaj mil gaya jo aapne chaaha tha,” she told him.
A lot of this emotion was for the athlete and coach and is for the relationship of sports but also for trust, respect and love.
In the context of Teacher’s Day, Mirabai Chanu and Vijay Sharma’s story reminds us all that there is always a mentor behind a successful athlete, and that the most important one is the mentor who goes way beyond coaching. Vijay Sharma for Mirabai is someone much more than the man who inspired her story.
And regardless of how many medals she wins or how much fame she achieves, one identity will remain close to her heart— she will always be her “sir’s Mira.”
