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Judo · INDIA

Linthoi Chanambam

World Cadet champion, Sarajevo 2022 (−57 kg) — India’s first-ever medallist at any Judo World Championships (IJF); Berlin Junior European Cup gold (2025) and World Junior Championships bronze, Lima (2025), both Indian firsts; received the PMRBP 2024 (Sports). Trains at the Inspire Institute of Sport.

17 in the official award list, January 2024; no date of birth published

Manipur · India

Linthoi Chanambam in her judogi, holding her World Junior Championships bronze medal and prize card, Lima 2025
Linthoi Chanambam with her bronze medal at the World Junior Championships, Lima, October 2025
Image source ↗ · International Judo Federation
Source photograph · credit and provenance below

BEHIND THE RESULT

The achievement

In August 2022, at the World Cadet Championships in Sarajevo, Linthoi Chanambam of Mayang Imphal, Manipur, won the women’s −57 kg title — defeating Brazil’s Bianca Reis in the final and becoming, in the International Judo Federation’s records, the first Indian ever to win a medal at a Judo World Championships at any age level. She had been training at the Inspire Institute of Sport in Karnataka since 2017, under coach Mamuka Kizilashvili. On 22 January 2024 she received the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar in the Sports category from President Droupadi Murmu.

Still collecting firsts

Linthoi’s record did not stop at the cadet title. In June 2025 she won gold at the Berlin Junior European Cup, and in October 2025 she took bronze at the World Junior Championships in Lima — both, like Sarajevo, Indian firsts recorded by the International Judo Federation. Earlier titles include Asian Cadet gold at Bangkok in 2022 and national titles going back to a sub-junior national gold in 2018.

A spark to explore

Linthoi left home at about ten to train in another state. What is the hardest thing about chasing a goal far from the people and places you know — and what makes athletes stay? That is a question from us, not part of her record.

Source-based story · the activities are prompts for readers.

Open the article edition →

The achievement, in context.

Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar

World Cadet champion, Sarajevo 2022 (−57 kg) — India’s first-ever medallist at any Judo World Championships (IJF); Berlin Junior European Cup gold (2025) and World Junior Championships bronze, Lima (2025), both Indian firsts; received the PMRBP 2024 (Sports). Trains at the Inspire Institute of Sport.

2024-01-22 · Supporting source ↗

Sources you can explore.

The Times of India · Sarajevo report, 27 August 2022 ↗Sports report

PIB · official PMRBP 2024 awardee list ↗Official award list

Original source ↗

Another spark to discover.

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