Hello Friends,
Sports occupy a very unique place in our life. Watching live sports is one of the major source of mind refreshment for most of us. On the other hand learning about journey of a sportsman inspires us to try harder in life. Over the years sports taught us various facets of leadership be it in personal or professional life. That is why we wait so eagerly for any major sporting event. Olympics is one such global sporting event which is considered as the ultimate litmus test for a sportsperson. They train hard for years to make sure that they are in the best possible shape both physically and mentally to perform at the marquee event. Recently concluded Tokyo Summer Olympics 2020 had no dearth of excitement, inspiration, passion and numerous examples of hard earned success. The global event was a big success this time after the initial postponement last year due to Covid 19 pandemic. Let us now have a look on how the quadrennial event inspired us this year.
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| Image Credit: pixabay.com |
First of all it was a great effort by the organizers to conduct the event successfully with all the Covid 19 safety protocols in place. Afterall safety of all the participants and support staffs is of utmost importance. As an Indian fan we all were hopeful as usual that this edition will definitely be a better one compared to the previous ones for our country. Our sporting warriors didn't disappoint us either in terms of winning medals. It proved to be India's best Olympics season till date with seven medals. This edition also saw us winning our first gold medal in athletics. Indian men's hockey team winning a bronze medal after 41 years could well proved to be the catalyst needed to reinvent the game. The success stories of Lovlina Borgohain, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, P V Sindhu, Neeraj Chopra, Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Bajrang Punia are going to inspire the aspiring sportspeople in the years to come. Not to forget Aditi Ashok, Kamalpreet Kaur, Mary Kom or Women's hockey team. They might not have won us the medals but their efforts and passion make them winners too.
The pillars of success
If we look at all the medal winners or even participants, quite a few similar characteristic traits can be observed . These sports stars who have now become national icons exhibit excellent leadership qualities for any individual or team. Single minded focus towards goal and dedication in the process is something one needs to take notice about these young sporting geniuses.
Lovlina had to stay away from family for longer durations for better training facilities. Mirabai Chanu used to take lifts from truck drivers to reach training academy, 30 Kms far from her place in Manipur. Her yearlong practice of trekking up and downhills carrying firewood on her head helped her building the base for her current glory. Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Bajrang Punia, Neeraj Chopra showed extreme grit time and again to fight against injury woes so that their ultimate goal remains intact. Such inspiring stories these are. These instances are the testament to the challenging lives of a sports person.
Dil mange more is the mantra for continuous progress for all these players. Their disappointment after winning silver or bronze medal and not gold shows that they always aim for the highest glory. Injuries, financial problems, lack of proper training facility are some of the common obstacles that all these sporting greats have faced over the years. But none of these challenges were good enough to deter their passion for making their country proud. Their mental toughness during adversity is something to watch out for. Determination for excellence is what drives them.
Gratitude, a term we are so familiar with specially during the Covid 19 crisis. Yet lot of times we tend to forget to show the gratefulness towards those who extend their unconditional support during our success journey. But all these warriors ensured not to miss out on the opportunity to show their gratitude, be it for their families, friends, coaches or anybody who have supported them during their journey. Such a nice gesture it was when Mirabai Chanu showed her gratitude to all those truck drivers who helped her during the training period treating them with lunch & a small token of appreciation. A note of gratitude is deserved by the Odisha Government as well who supported Indian Hockey teams( Both men & women) with sponsorship. End of the day one person or one team may stand on the podium to receive the medal, but the role of many supporting hands behind them can't be denied.
Turning setbacks into stepping stones for success..... sports people can be the ideal torchbearer of this philosophy. All of them faced injury concerns, missed out on medals in major sporting events and many such setbacks which could have been a huge blow to their spirit. But they decided to work harder on the shortcomings and turn the tide in their favour.
The question remains the same
Amid all these celebrations few questions should definitely be raised. Why we only celebrate their success?? Why do they become news headlines with all the good talks when they win medals?? These are the same bunch of players who get brutally criticized when they fail to meet the expectations. Don't they deserve a bit more empathy or support when they fail to achieve the desired success despite monumental efforts? It is high time we realize that it is not possible to succeed every time. Every failure enriches us with learnings that are precious to achieve that feat of success. We should keep supporting and encouraging our sporting heroes irrespective of the results.
Are we satisfied with seven medals? Will we be happy to wait for years again to repeat the similar success thinking that our country don't produce enough talent to win us Olympics medals? Or we take the opposite route and start taking initiatives required for consistent growth of players across sports. Sports need to be encouraged more in schools & colleges. It has to be an important part of our academic cycle. That is when even parents will be encouraging their kids to pursue a career in sports. It is high time we start promoting all the major sports which are part of global events like Olympics. World class training facilities need to be available at state & national level for producing competent players. It requires a lot more effort from the entire nation. That is when probably we will be able to see our country in the top half of the medals list.
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