Only prayer on Mirabai Chanu's lips: God let the Tokyo Games go on

New Delhi: Mirabai Chanu has only one prayer on her lips that the Tokyo Olympics should go as per schedule despite COVID-19 pandemic otherwise all her efforts of winning an Olympic medal will go down the drain.

For the last four years, Mirabai has laboured for a successful Olympic outing but all she can think right now is about the fate of the July 24 to August 9 Tokyo Games, which face the threat of postponement due to COVID-19 outbreak

"If the Olympics don't happen all our efforts will all go to waste. I don't want this to happen. I am praying every day. I just want a get an Olympic medal for myself," Mirabai told PTI.

Mirabai's maiden Olympic campaign had ended in disappointment as she failed to lift the weight in any of her three attempts in the clean & jerk section.

Calls for postponing the Tokyo Games till the virus is contained are increasing with several athletes lashing out at the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) advice to continue training at a time when governments across the globe are calling for shutdowns.

However, the two-time Commonwealth Games gold-medalist, who has already sealed an Olympic quota, wants the quadrennial event to go as planned.

"The pressure (of winning a medal) has changed to the Olympics should not be cancelled. That's all I'm thinking. The rest, training, etc I am not tensed about right now.

"Even if it's postponed there will be a lot of problem because a lot can change in a short period of time for us," she added.