An Olympic Experience

Sunday was the last day of the Olympics. The thing that kept all of us going for the previous 15 days has come to an end. This was my most emotional and nostalgic 15 days on the Internet, with my entire feed full of sports, love, Paris, hard work, sportsmanship, heartbreaks, world records, and friendships. Though personally I was shit, this event kept me going like anything, and it breaks me now that if I get up tomorrow, I have no point of distraction. The Olympics pulled up a whole Cricket fantasy country to watch Neeraj Chopra throw the Javelin till 2 a.m. It was fucking 5 crore people live watching it.

Just love, pure love

If you ask me what my favorite moment in Paris is, it would be Tara Davis before Mondo Duplantis. Her husband was just wow, dude. I have no words for this guy. These people jumped straight out of heaven to show love like this. It was the most emotional thing to watch. Then comes our cutest Mondo Duplantis and his feet didn't even touch the ground moment. It was iconic to watch someone do it like that. There was so much love at the Olympics. The mixed doubles champions in tennis broke up after 4 years of dating to focus on training and won their medal together (WTF?). Novak Djokovic ran to his family after winning his long-pending medal. It is what it is. And as I understood, love is not what you say; it's what you do.

Okay, my second favorite thing. Women supporting women. Have you just looked at that picture of Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles bowing to Rebeca Andrade? I was fucking with tears. It was just wow. 

Even the smallest thing matters

Can you just imagine the men’s 100-meter race and what freaking second made Noah Lyles win that gold? It was just fucking 100 grams that got Vinesh Phogat disqualified. Before night, the entire nation was rooting for her and her win was so fucking personal. Sports can be as cruel as it could. We have a very privileged career and sports is a fucking different thing altogether. Maybe it sounds more arrogant but it can taunt and it can break someone like anything.

India at the Olympics

I am not going to comment on anything and we are no one to even comment. We cannot sit in front of the TV and tell someone that they should have performed better. I think this time, more than last time, the pressure was very real. Yes, there were moments when I prayed these players would heal soon. But it was really disturbing to see that we were not even representing half of the events at the Olympics. Personally, the most unsung hero would be Sreejesh; he was the Spider-Man of Indian hockey, and I hope his retirement was perfect. 

Maybe “Victory isn't always about winning and losing isn't always about defeat".

Maybe it's high time!?

Maybe it's high time that women get treated equally. Maybe the next few lines will highlight that we take charge of how we see, comment on, and place women in sports. Do you know that for the men’s 100-meter race, the whole podium was turned off to welcome the players? Why not for women’s 100 meters? "She is married and she is still performing". "She is pregnant and she can run that fast"? "She is 32 and she is still at the top". “When are you retiring?” was the constant question Simone was asked in most of her interviews. Do you go and ask any male athlete who is 35 and still playing and at the top of their career? It's high time that we use an equally dignified commentary on such an iconic event. Just a viewpoint of mine. 

Favorite Olympics

This Olympics made me cry for some random athlete and feel for their nation. I am a huge fan of Tom Daley, who is a diver from Great Britain. His childhood interviews were so wow that he exactly described how his life would be at age 13 and he lived the same life at the Olympics. 

The sportsmanship of He Bing Jiao was so heartwarming, so the content is that she was playing her semi-final match with Carolina Marin and Marin was leading the match so conveniently. Suddenly, Marin twisted her knees and she had to retire from the tournament itself. At the podium, He Bing Jiao was carrying Spain’s flag to show respect for her opponent. What a moment, right? 

And this happened when Ryan Murphy was a swimmer for the USA team. When he won a bronze medal, her wife screamed at him, showing a poster saying, “Ryan, it's a girl." That's how he found out. There were a hell of a lot of moments that I can tell. I am crying that this is over now and tomorrow Jio Cinema will not even be on my phone.

Things I am taking from this Olympics:

1. Sometimes taking a break means, you can come back stronger. The 11 medal holder of the Olympics- Simone Biles had to take a break from Gymnastics because she was mentally going through a lot. Her break can tell you that, life is all about coming stronger every time you are at your rock bottom.

I have Asthma, Allergies, Dyslexia, ADD, Anxiety, and Depression. But i will tell you what you have does not define what you can become - Noah Lyles

2. You are never too young or too old to chase your dreams. There was a fucking 11-year kid from China skateboarding at the Olympics to a 58-year-old athlete playing Table tennis. So it might be some random statement but every year you might figure out new things to do but still you can choose to do it.

3. True Winners cheer each other on. Winning is a very different thing when it comes to sports mainly at a podium like the Olympics. In life, keep yourself with people who just cheer you on without any judgments or envy. Sometimes, running alone can't make you win the race with satisfaction when there is no one to cheer for!

4. It made me Humble. Every day I felt humble at least watching some random sports till 3 am. It kept me on the ground watching someone showing emotion, seeing their coaches and family cry, and their entire nation praying for that one athlete to bring a medal that they have never won. I was really grateful to understand and experience different sports and their real emotions on how they feel. Honestly, it kept my days going like anything!

5. Keep it Simple. If someone can win a Silver medal with no advanced equipment or sponsors by just keeping it simple and now his entire pose was used by Athletes when they won their medals. Maybe keeping it simple and just starting it is the toughest thing but the most impactful too.

6. Love is not what they say, it's what they do. Really can't believe that maybe I was so obsessed over this year's Olympic moments and got super emotional about this.

7. Someday, we all have the power to change our story.

Thank you to everyone who gave their hearts out at this Olympics and maybe it kept a lot of us humbled. Until next time, LA 2028! That Tom Cruise's big stunt was exceptional. Fuck, we have to wait for 4 years and a real petition to have the Olympics every year!?

Thank you for reading to this end. Though it was just a pure emotional blog about how the Olympics were going for me, I will come up with something interesting soon. Have a great week ahead and keep moving no matter what!