‘Learn to suffer pressure’
NEW DELHI: The ability to work with “real pressure” instead of trying to pretend that the pressure doesn’t exist and the experience of competing at the big stage are key to success at the Olympics, according to two of India’s Olympic heroes, 2008 Beijing gold medallist Abhinav Bindra and bronze medallist Vijender Singh.
Bindra, India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist, said a lot of athletes try to run away from that pressure or simply do not have a Plan B in place to adapt if something goes wrong.
“No other championships can be compared to the Olympics. It is the grandest stage of all,” said Bindra, at the inaugural virtual edition of HtNxt 2021, on being asked how different the Olympics are to other competitions, considering the fact that India’s much talked about shooting contingent fared so well in world cups but did not return with a single medal from Tokyo.
“When you are competing at the Olympic Games you will be under pressure and I think perhaps athletes make the mistake of trying to run away from this pressure or try to be in a makebelieve world that there will be no pressure and this will be just like another competition. And that’s where the mistake comes. It is about learning to endure this pressure, suffering through this pressure, in competition,” said Bindra in a session moderated by Sharda Ugra.
“It is all about things going wrong and getting your skills together and getting everything right on that particular day and particular moment, which is incredibly tough.”
Bindra learnt from his experience of the previous two Olympics. So did Vijender Singh from his stint in Athens, before he became the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal. “Going to the Olympics in 2004 was a big deal for me. I was being called Olympian Vijender Singh in my village,” said Singh. “Then I saw [Rajyavardhan] Rathore winning silver at Athens. That time I realised it’s easy to reach there, but the podium is the real place to be. I was more mature and experienced in Beijing.
Singh was full of praise for the boxing contingent that represented India at Tokyo, saying bronze medal winner Lovlina Borgohain will have a good chance at a bigger medal next time.
“Lovlina played so well in the quarter-final. I liked her straight punches. She then played the world champion (in the semis) but she was still confident. Next time I am sure she will beat her.”