The pressure of olympics is something else antim

The pressure of olympics is something else antim

New Delhi: Six months back, Antim Panghal marked her Olympic debut at Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris only to watch her dream vapourise inside 90 seconds. The 20-year-old lost via technical superiority to Turkey’s Zeynep Yetgil, a two-time European Championships bronze medallist, to complete a forgettable day for India’s wrestling contingent that had earlier watched Vinesh Phogat being disqualified for her gold medal bout after failing to make the weight in the 50kg division.

“I distinctly remember that the morale in the camp was down. There was this sense of disbelief. I won’t say it played on my mind because wrestling, at the end of the day, is an individual sport. I certainly could have given a better account of myself,” Panghal said of her Olympics experience after winning the IIS Haryana Dangal Championship in Hisar, her first competitive challenge since the Paris heartbreak.

“I think the occasion got to me. The pressure of Olympics is something else,” she said. That said, Panghal has had the experience of competing in high-stakes competitions such as the World Championships and the Asian Games. A two-time junior world champion, she was India’s lone medallist at the 2023 Belgrade World Championships where she finished third. She also has an Asian Games bronze to her name, but the Olympics, she said, tested her nerves like none other.

“It can get very overwhelming and it’s very easy to lose focus. That’s when pressure takes over and your best-laid plans come to naught,” she said. Her opponent at the Games, she reckoned, was “completely beatable. ”

“I had beaten her in the past and I was aware of her game. But on the day that mattered, she was able to execute her skills. I also had a lingering pain in my waist and lower back due to an injury, and all of that combined to offset me,” she added.

Unlike many athletes who took some downtime to shake off the stress of the rigourous Olympic cycle, Panghal decided to course-correct immediately. She consulted a physiotherapist to address her back issue and after a month-long rehab at her home, resumed training under the supervision of her childhood coach Bhagat Singh.

“We started it slow after rehab and I was able to train at full intensity within a couple of months. I have been training regularly for 4-5 months now and am trying to perfect some technical areas in my game,” she said.

“I think Paris was a missed opportunity,” she continued. “I had the potential to get into the medal rounds and even win a medal, but all that can’t be undone. I still wake up with a sense of disappointment. That hurt will take some time to heal, although there were lot of learnings from my maiden Olympics.” The learnings chiefly allude to emotional intelligence and managing the hype.

“I have been to quadrennial Games before, but the buzz preceding the Olympics was unprecedented for me. I’ll be better prepared next time.”

With LA Games still four years away, Panghal has set short-term goals for herself. “We have Asian Championships (March 25-30) and World Championships (September 13-21) lined up this year and I’ll plan my peak around those events. My training is going well, my mind and body are feeling great, and I am maintaining my weight. I want to start winning again,” she signed off.