Boria Majumdar in Paris
As a journalist, you are supposed to be objective. Our job is to report and state facts. And yet, at times, it becomes difficult. Impossible almost. When you see a Vinesh Phogat lose out because of 100 grams, or a Nishant Dev miss out to a bad decision, you are often conflicted and forced to abandon that tag of objectivity. That’s what an Olympic Games is all about. As the Games come to an end, I want to draw attention to four such moments which left me in pain. Heartbreaks are natural in sport, and that’s what binds this Olympic journey for the Indian media and the athletes.
The first was the Lakshya Sen moment. I had watched every match of his here in Paris and had every reason to believe he would get a medal. Even when he lost to Viktor Axelsen, I was sure he would get past Lee Zii Jia and win the bronze. Lakshya was playing at a very different level, and for him to lose steam after being a game up in the bronze-medal encounter was tough to digest. But that’s what sport is all about. There is never a script and things happen.
Lakshya felt the pressure and wasn’t able to get past the line. The truth is each one of us who was there felt his pain. And each of us will be with him to see him succeed in Los Angeles. And in the next four years, we will hope to see him get better, win consistently and create an aura of sorts. To be a part of this journey will help Indian sport get stronger. And that’s what the Olympics teaches us.
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Next up is Mirabai Chanu. She had reached Paris on July 7, and was in really good shape going into the competition. Each time we spoke, it seemed to me that she was ready and getting better. When she lifted 88 kilos in the snatch, I was actually sure of a medal. With the clean and jerk, Chanu is as bankable as anyone, and the medal looked hers. That was when she missed the first lift of 111 and came under pressure. When she then lifted 111 and loaded the bar to 114, I was a little tense.
The Thai girl looked done at 112 and the question was why Mirabai would go to 114. Was it to be sure? Was it worth the risk? It wasn’t, and you felt empty when you realised that she had missed the medal by a kilo. Back-to-back Olympic medals don’t come easy, and it was a huge opportunity lost. The moment she failed to lift 114, I actually walked out and left the stadium. It was tough to report, and I asked my colleagues to get the job done and walked alone for 30 minutes to get my head around the result. Yet again, it was a kind of emptiness tough to explain, and I had moved from being a journalist to a fan.
The third was the Nishant bout. Having seen the first round go to him 4-1, I was fairly sure he had it in control. And the way he boxed round 2, my belief was strengthened. That’s when the scores flashed, and I was shocked to see that Nishant had lost the round 2-3. Soon after, I had a premonition it could go either way. The judging was biased and when the third round ended, I was praying for Nishant. That was when calamity struck, and the verdict was given against him. He did not speak to the media in the mixed zone, and one could understand what he was going through. For us all, it was a definite medal lost and a cruel blow, which has become so very common in boxing.
Finally, it has to be Vinesh. I met her soon after the semi-final, and she was beaming. She shook my hand and said we would meet the next day, as she was running in to check her weight. Who would have known that the next morning, her world would change and I would never see her smile in the same manner again? Even if the appeal goes in her favour, the trauma of what happened will leave her old. It isn’t easy to deal with, and each one of us has felt the pain. It still doesn’t seem real, and that’s when we need to think of what she must be going through. Abhinav Bindra, who met her, said she was devastated. Understandable, isn’t it?
It is this pain that is part of an Olympic journey. Heartbreaks that make sport come alive and leave you with life lessons that make you a stronger individual. Paris was challenging, but I have to say I will leave tomorrow with some incredible memories. I know what sport can do to me, and I can’t wait to comeback in two weeks to report on the Paralympics and take that story forward.
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