Youth Olympics Silver medalist Thangjam Tababi Devi has donated her competition judogi (traditional Judo attire) to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to be included for display at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The 16-year old from Manipur created history by winning India’s first ever Olympic medal in the sport of judo, when she won the silver medal in the Women’s - 44 kg category at the recently concluded Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Tababi was one of two athletes from the Indian contingent who had the honour of donating an article to the Olympic Museum, which is the largest archive of Olympic memorabilia with over 10,000 permanent and temporary exhibits related to the Olympic movement on display. Apart from Tababi, shooter Saurabh Chaudhary, who won Gold in the 10m Air Pistol event, also donated his pistol to the museum.
Tababi, who was delighted to be invited to donate to the celebrated museum said, “I was happy to be invited to donate my judogi to the Olympic Museum. I immediately called my coach to tell him and he explained what an honour it was for me. I’m happy my performance was recognised and hope this can help make judo more popular in India.”
Post her arrival from Argentina, Tababi will return to training with coach Mamuka Kizilashvili at the Inspire Institute of Sport as she focuses on preparations for the upcoming Commonwealth Championships being held in Jaipur from November 5-10.
Tababi is a two-time Asian cadet champion and has also won the Gold at the Khelo India School Games.