Sarajevo: The opponents of World Cadet Judo Championship gold medallist Linthoi Chanambam bore the brunt of her prowess on the mat here but not long ago her male friends in her native town in Manipur had faced the same.
The 16-year-old Linthoi, who on Friday became the first Indian to win a medal in the World Championships across any age-group, used to beat up boys while growing up at Mayang Imphal, around 25km from state capital Imphal.
Her helpless parents had to take the injured boys to nearby hospital.
“I took up Judo in my childhood as I believed myself to be a boy and not a girl And, as a kid, I hardly had friends who were girls. Most of them were boys,” a beaming Linthoi said during a virtual media interaction.
“So, I used to fight with them a lot and ended up injuring some of them as well. My parents had to take them to the hospital, at times,” she said with a laugh.
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