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Paris: You see the medals, you see the near-misses. You see the smiles, you see the tears. You see the rise, you see the fall.
What you perhaps don’t see is these athletes as humans. The people that they are away from the confines of their sporting arena that defines them. At the Paris Olympics, there came glimpses of that, through English, show of hands, and chants of “Sree anna”.
‘Hindi mein chalega na?’
Neeraj Chopra is among the most articulate athletes out there. And when he is at his rawest self, like he was moments after the javelin final, it can be a listeners’ treat. There is one little rider though: “Hindi mein chalega na?”
Of course chalega, for the Indian journalists who had flocked the basement of the Stade de France to speak to him. When the Indian arrived for the official medal winners’ press conference and the questions began, the coordinator insisted the questions and answers to be in English. That’s when Chopra — who, by the way, speaks more than decent English — stuttered slightly. “Oh…English…little problem.”
Yet he answered every question, and even translated them to English after speaking in Hindi first up. Until another one came from an Indian. Chopra began his reply thus: “English mein kar do dena aap translate? Nahi agar mujhe karna padega toh thodi dikkat ho jayegi (you’ll be able to translate it to English, right?)” Then the thoughts flowed. In Hindi.
Manu, the star attraction
Manu Bhaker was a bit of a star attraction on the shooting ranges of Chateauroux, a quiet town about 300km from Paris where the look, feel and noise of an Olympics was hardly the same. After her third and final event ended and Manu finished as a two-time medallist who fell one spot short of her third, she was stopped at various points on her way to stepping outside.
A group of American coaches stopped Manu in her tracks to congratulate her and tell her what they thought about her at these Games: “You were the most consistent shooter”. Manu bowed and thanked them. Seconds later, she bumped into a German female coach who also returned similar compliments, and whom Manu was elated at meeting after long. “I think the last time I met you was in 2021. It’s so good to finally see you again!” said Manu.
Sindhu, Manu and a show of hands
PV Sindhu and Manu Bhaker don’t have too much in common, except that one big standout overlap — they are two-time medallists at the Olympics. Both also had something unique on their hands — one an effect of natural wear and tear and the other an artificial art. And both spent considerable time showing it, and letting it be captured, to whoever was interested.
Sindhu had painted her Paris Olympics journey on the nails of both her hands. She had the five Olympic rings, the Eiffel Tower and “2024” polished and painted on each separate nail. Manu’s right hand had visible red marks of bruises, from holding that pistol and taking aim day after day for hours. She pulled up her sleeve and placed the arm in front for a better view of her hardwork. “Yeh toh kabhi nahi jayega (this might never go),” she said.
Not just India and Pakistan
Everything in the aftermath of the men’s javelin final had become about India, Pakistan and India versus Pakistan. So much so that in the press conference that features the top three athletes of each event, not one question from reporters was directed towards Grenadian Anderson Peters, the bronze medallist, across the 32 minutes.
Chopra, though, made it a point to ensure it wasn’t all about the Indian and the Pakistani. To a question directed to him on what his gold in Tokyo and Arshad Nadeem’s gold in Paris does to their respective countries, Chopra also pulled in Peters into the discussion and the impact of his rise in javelin to Grenada. Peters nodded along.
Then about those big 90m throws that have eluded Chopra and turned the night around for Nadeem, Chopra also brought up Peters’s two 90m-plus throws within a month in the 2022 season. Peters nodded along again.
‘Sree anna’ and his following
Everyone wanted a piece of the Indian hockey team at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium on a Thursday afternoon. Moments after India sealed the bronze, players walked towards a section of the crowd that had their families and celebrated with them and the fans around.
There was particularly special love reserved for PR Sreejesh around the stadium, though. The goalkeeper was by far the fan favourite, responding to cries of “Sree anna”, “Sree anna” from all quarters and waving his arms around. The four-time Olympian was soaking all of it in, shouting along and celebrating with his fans. In his last match for India, Sree anna was sure having a ball.