Medal winners aren’t the only form of sporting champions!
Over the past week at the Arena Porte de La Chapelle, where the Paris Olympics badminton matches were being played, I came across different shades of champions, of all shapes, sizes and forms.
Spain’s Carolina Marin, an Olympic gold medalist and a 3-time World Champion, had to bow out from the court during her semi-finals match, due to yet another ACL tear. She was just 11 points away from sealing a place in the final, but she had to walk away in excruciating pain and agony and did so graciously without opting for a wheelchair; before leaving she wished her opponent, He Bingjiao, well for the finals.
As they say, one kind act begets further kindness.
Despite going down in the women’s singles final to the current world number one, Bingjiao carried a small Spanish flag pin to the podium, which she proudly showcased, whilst receiving her silver medal, as a mark of respect to Carolina, who very likely would have been on the podium unless injury had struck.
On the men’s side, I witness a 34-year-old warrior, a colon-cancer survivor, compete hard against a prodigious talent, who is 12 years younger to him. Taiwan’s Chou Tien, eventually lost to India’s Lakshya Sen in the quarter-finals after being one set up, but he competed valiantly for 75 minutes on court and Lakshya had to sweat for every point right till the end.
That’s one kind of a champion, who may not have won a medal but who definitely left a mark on the 8,000 fans who were watching from the stands and perhaps a million other viewers online.
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Then there are champions, who know how to script comebacks, when it matters the most. Malaysia duo, Aaron Chia and Woo Yik Soh, were down one set in both the quarter finals and in the bronze medal match, but dug deep and aided with the vocal support of the in-stand Malaysian fans, made jaw-dropping comebacks.
Their approach brought out the nerves in India’s Satwik-Chirag, who succumbed to uncharacteristic unforced errors and against Astrup-Rasmussen, they stole victory from the jaws of defeat. The Danish pair were all set to seal their place in the finals when they were 20-19 up in the second set after winning the first one, but the Malaysians turned a corner and fought tooth and nail right till the very end to close the third set at 21-19.
Malaysia’s singles player, Lee Zii Jia, perhaps took inspiration from the doubles duo, to repeat a very similar act against India’s Lakshya Sen, who he beat after being one set down – it takes a certain champion mindset to convert good performances into victories.
Then you have champions like the eventual gold medal winner, Viktor Axelsen, who know how to switch on their best mode, play on the minds of the opponents and inflict morale-crushing defeats just through one’s body language and aura.
Lakshya was a point away from winning the first game at 20-17 and his serve faltered; now, it could have been just sheer luck but having seen it from a close quarter, it seems to be a case of nerves given the opponent on the other side. And the champion in Axelsen knew how to seize the moment and make the most of the opportunity.
From being a point away from losing the first game, he went on to defend his gold medal and become only the second person, after Lin Dan, to do so!
At 22, Lakshya himself is a champion to have achieved, what no other Indian male badminton player has. Surely, he will rue the missed opportunities but to win 5 out of 7 matches in a span of 8 days against some of the top players in the world needed maturity, adaptability, skillsets and physical endurance of a top-grade athlete, which he showcased.
There is a reason why Axelsen predicted that he is likely to start as a favourite at Los Angeles 2028.
Talking about achieving firsts, Malaysia’s Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan became the country’s first women’s doubles pair to reach an Olympics semi-finals.
Like Lakshya they won’t come back home with a medal, but they have won millions of hearts with their play and certainly inspired a few thousands to pick up a sport.
That’s what champions do – they believe, they inspire, they dare to go where no one else has, they provoke and light a spark within us, they show us the way, they fall but they persist and fight to live another day and make comebacks; they are competitive but can be generous in equal measure.
They are role models and irrespective of the colour of their medals they win or whether they win them at all or not, they need to be respected, supported, constructively criticized, cheered and supported.
Just the way Malaysia has immortalized Lee Chong Wei, with a Madame Tussauds wax statue, despite him never winning an Olympic gold medal for his nation!
Also Read: Lakshya Sen won and lost as part of Team India – open letter to Prakash Padukone