All Roads lead to Beijing China:
It has been a long four years but the day has finally come when it was time he headed to his third olympics. He had spent the last month on the road training in europe so he wanted to make sure he got to Beijiing well in advance to get ready for his event.He got to beijing two days ago and the city is buzzing with "olympic fever." after a long and grueling flight it was a relief getting to the athletes village which is top of the line and very comfortable.It is an amazing feeling to be in a place that is buzzing with world class athletes and everyone soaking up the experience but yet all there with one big purpose---- the ever elusive "gold medal" It is definitely motivating rubbing shoulders with your peers who are all well established in their fields and also with your countrymen a lot of whom you meet for the first time. There is definitely a comraderie in your designated housing blocks which is an experience that one only feels at the Games.Tomorrow is going to be his first practice since he was still on european time and have only managed 5 hours of sleep in the last couple of days. This is probably a mixture of jet lag and the excitement of actually being at the greatest show on Earth. However he think the tiredness has finally caught up and adrenaline worn off a little .Have a big day tomorrow with practice and all pre match routines.
Rested and ready to go........
Have awoken that morning and managed to get 8 hours of consecutive sleep....finally!!!!!!!!! Feel good and ready to actually hit the day head on with training, some fitness, a little bit of rehab and a good session of keeping your thoughts at bay....He actually feel relatively fresh today and was just going to head to breakfast.... the food at these athlete villages is in abundance so much choice that you sometimes get there and spend a good amount of time being confused whether you are really hungry or not....Nevertheless need sustenance for the day so heading there...The practice today is going to be something where they are all aiming to get used to our surroundings nothing more and nothing less....even though most of them have competed in this range before there will be subtle arrangements and changes that your body needs to get used to so there are no surprises on the big day....So that is the order of business for today where they will go and soak up some of the vibes in the shooting range and try and get used to things like lighting, the floor on the range and the basic feel of the place....
Olympics, Olympics, Olympics.......
it was his first official day where he felt like a human again having had a great nights sleep.... he had a good practice and as he mentioned earlier it is more like a reconnaissance where he was trying to get a feel... it was a decent day at the range and more importantly he felt great so now he can feel his competitive juices starting to get going and will be raging in a few days...things at the village also becoming more and more bustling where the final athletes checking in and tomorrow is the official opening ceremony.... so soon it is going to be official that the Games are upon us....tomorrow is going to pretty much the same as todays routine.... wake up, eat, train, shoot, recovery, dinner, sleep... don't worry i assure everyone out there the life of an athlete is really very exciting....
we are now welcomed....officially.............
So yesterday was the welcoming ceremony where they officially raise the flag in front of your building and play the national anthem... it is really an emotional moment especially for us athletes who have early events and never attend the opening ceremony.so for us in some way this was the small and intimate "cutting of the ribbon" and makes you feel proud that you are representing an entity so much larger than self.Today is my day off and so i am going to spend some time soaking in the village and actually getting my mind to do something it has never done before.... NOT THINK ABOUT SHOOTING!!!So instead of thinking about shooting perfect bulls eyes... today he is going to think of the pretty women in the village, the weather, the great city of beijing and whatever else pops into my mind will be allowed to stay as long it doesn't involve the words "rifle", "shooting" in it.... hey all it is a great time to be an athlete and this event is what we all live for.....
The day after.............
They have all been telling me what a huge achievement winning Gold is. He realise that but frankly the enormity of the goodwill generated has caught me by surprise. Honestly enough it really has not changed me, He is still the same Abhinav who just a day ago was hanging around alone in his room in the Olympic village. Frankly, all the attention is a bit overwhelming. He is not much good at making loud public pronouncements. That in no way means that this is not the most intense experience of his life.For more than a decade now his life has been all about his sport. In fact, he do not have a life beyond the confines of the 10m range. He have had a range built in his own home to cut down any possibility of distraction and to be able to practise his sport whenever the fancy strikes me. It all did pay off, didn't it?It has all still not sunk in.He will post more once the feeling settles.He ran away from all the media and official attention yesterday after he had done the bit he had do in keeping with his new-found status. Instead he chose to go to a quiet dinner with some friends.I would like to reiterate that everyone who represents India at the Olympic Games has put in years of toil and sweat. He ask the Indian people to support our athletes more. It is fine to celebrate our achievements but it is just as important to keep up the backing when we are not on top of our game.It is important for India to do better at Olympic sport as these are the true measure of a nation's sporting depth. He wish more private initiatives come up with corporate support apart from the backing of the government. The joy that the nation feels at his win is humbling. He just wish that this is repeated more and more often.With our depth of talent and expanse of people He firmly believe India can be a world-class sporting power. What we need are precise systems. He told that he will try to do his bit at grooming the next generation. He would like to appeal to each Indian to also do their bit in prodding us out of sporting complacency.
Great Incident
More than the joy, elation, euphoria his strongest feeling is a release from a thousand kilo weight that has been daunting him for the last 12 years.He was really really happy that he could deliver for his country and all the indian athletes who are trying and working just as hard as him.He has a strong feeling that we are going to win more medals at these games and it is going to be great to be able to watch his compatriots without any thoughts like his training and event off his mind.He really hope this is the beginning of a journey of many more medals for India and glory for our great country and its people.
So it is now over and the time for him to return home has arrived. He know his life is not going to be even close to the same upon return but it is something he is going to have to embrace and actually enjoy which he is at this moment finding way more daunting than shooting...The truth is he was scared because it is not something he is familiar it but he would like to take this opportunity to thank all his fans and all his well wishers who have rooted for him. He want to wish the other participating the best of luck...although he is not going to be around seeing them at the village he will be definitely rooting for them from back home. He is hoping we can come back with some more medals because we have all worked so hard and really deserve some more
