Nothing brings a country of 1.4 billion people together more than the love for sports. From the goosebumps-invoking chants of ‘India, India’ that echo across a stadium when we win to the radio silence in every corner of the country when we lose—sports has been a perennial part of passionate dinner table conversations and tea time tête-à-tête. Truth be told, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
In 2008, when ace shooter Abhinav Bindra became the first Indian to win a gold at the Beijing Olympics, the games sparked more than just a fleeting interest among sports enthusiasts and athletes alike.
What was once a country obsessed with cricket has witnessed quite a remarkable shift in the last two decades, with keen attention paid to the Olympic Games and the many sports that are part of it. In 2020, the Indian contingent consisted of 124 athletes, making it the largest the country ever sent to the Games. The athletes at the Games are those who know what it takes to be champions. They make sacrifices, take struggle in their stride, and exhibit an unwavering dedication to get to where they want to be. For them, giving up has never been an option—and it never will be.
As an audience, we are infinitely proud of who they are, all that they have achieved and everything they aspire to be.
Cosmo India interacted with the athletes who are eager to see the Indian flag hoisted against the background of the national anthem, as they step onto the podium to receive a medal at the Paris Olympic Summer Games this year. These sportspersons let us in on how they build resilience in the face of inevitable hurdles, display perseverance beyond passion, and their incomparable feeling of being able to represent India.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran
Table Tennis player
Cosmopolitan India: What drew you to table tennis?
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran: Coming from a very academically driven family, I first started playing table tennis at the age of five, only because my mom wanted us to be active. It is such a fast-paced game, and I loved every bit. I started training every day. I played for India in 2005 as a 12-year-old. Then, the dream of playing for India at the Olympics came true in Tokyo [2020], and now again at the Paris Olympics this year.
C: What is your process of achieving peak performance during training?
SG: I always loved playing the sport, but winning is a big motivator as it pushes you. When you overdo it, that is when the stress kicks in. I keep small goals that I have to achieve each time—it could be a particular service or stroke. It can also be weekly goals for fitness, like hitting a few balls more than I did last week. Then, I try to emulate that in a match in a more systematic way. If I am able to do it twice in a match, that is also a win for me. The process is to divert my mind from winning or losing, and getting into the details of the game because I know if I achieve those smaller goals, a win is likely—maybe not today, but someday for sure.
C: Do you think passion is enough to keep you going?
SG: Passion is a key factor—without that, you can’t do anything. But you need to have a plan and training [schedule] in place irrespective of how you feel that day or how tired you are. I have days when I don’t want to get out of bed but if you give in to that, it becomes really difficult to be disciplined. Of course, your training is not supposed to be immensely difficult. You need to enjoy it; it has to be balanced. I break the monotony by incorporating small changes like doing Yoga or playing a game for fun. But ultimately, the single motivating factor is the love for the game. Even on days when I am on a break, I can’t sleep without playing a few shots. The sound of that [bouncing] ball gives me so much happiness.
C: What is the first thing you do instinctively after a win?
SG: I shout with joy—it is something that comes naturally to me. I like to express my feelings on the court, and I really love the adrenaline rush I get when I play the sport.
C: What is the best lesson that a failure has taught you?
Failures teach you a lot more than wins because often, winning takes over your emotions. But that is when you ignore the small details or mistakes that you might have made during a game, or might make again. When you lose a match, of course, it is disappointing. However, it’s when you go deep into what has actually gone wrong, even if you have lost by a close margin. I rewatch my games, jot down my mistakes, and try to work on them during training. I like analysing. At the top level, everyone is bringing their A game. So, it is about the small
