Neeraj Chopra showed that India can do well in athletics in Olympics, says Om Prakash Karhana

Manavjit Sandhu also agreed that it was fascinating to find India winning a gold in a physical sport like athletics, even as he expressed his admiration for the greats like Carl Lewis and Michael Phelps.

Olympians and others conveying their best wishes to the Indian contingent at a panel discussion on the Glory of the Olympic Rings at Manav Rachna in Faridabad on Monday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

In an inspiring session, Olympians Yogeshwar Dutt, Manavjit Sandhu, Dilip Tirkey, Rani Rampal, Om Prakash Karhana and Ronjan Sodhi regaled everyone with their Olympic tales at the Manav Rachna Headquarters in a panel discussion on the Glory of Five Rings on Monday.

The idea was to convey the best wishes to the Indian contingent, and Ronjan Sodhi put everything in perspective.

“It is not a battlefield. It is a playfield. We are well trained and well prepared. We will do well”, said Ronjan.

Former hockey captain Rani Rampal agreed that being an Olympian was special, but pointed out that it was a hard journey.

She recalled the flood of emotions following the Indian team’s victory over Australia in the quarterfinals and the heart breaking 1-2 loss to Argentina in the semifinals of the Tokyo Games.

“There is a big difference between dil jeetna and medal jeetna,”, Rani said.

Yogeshwar recalled how he was inspired by watching on television, Leander Paes win the Olympic medal in Atlanta in 1996, and vowed to become an Olympian.

“My father told me the Olympics come once in four years when we watched Leander win the first individual Olympic medal after 1952. The Olympic medal became a dream for me in wrestling. I narrowly missed it in 2008, but won in 2012, despite getting a cut on the eyebrow in the second bout. I was seeing with one eye”, said Yogeshwar.

He particularly impressed upon the youngsters the hard journey of a sportsman, as he said that he had to start from zero five times, following five surgeries in his career.

Recalling all the medals from Leander to Karnam Malleswari, Om Prakash picked Neeraj Chopra’s javelin gold in Tokyo as the best moment.

“Neeraj showed that we can do well in athletics. It was the first athletics medal, and it was a gold!” admired Om Prakash.

Manavjit Sandhu also agreed that it was fascinating to find India winning a gold in a physical sport like athletics, even as he expressed his admiration for the greats like Carl Lewis and Michael Phelps.

Former hockey captain Dilip Tirkey beautifully narrated how he had changed into a dependable defender after having started in the frontline. He said that celebrating the Indian hockey medal in Tokyo was very special, as it came so long after the gold in Moscow in 1980.

Yogeshwar told the audience to dream big, and never give up on one’s dream.

“Life is a fight. Never be satisfied till you reach your goal. I was never satisfied and always wanted to do better. Work hard, fight and keep moving forward. Fight for the country and for the national flag. If you do, you can break every barrier”, Yogeshwar said.