The flame of passion...

The flame at the Tokyo games was doused & it's Paris up next. As we end the games, some interesting facts about the Tokyo games: 1. Age is just a number The difference between the youngest & the oldest participant was 54 yrs. The youngest was a 12-yr-old Syrian table tennis player, Hend Zaza. She had to overcome obstacles in her homeland, as she trained through power cuts caused by civil war. She defeated 42-year-old Mariana Sahakian of Lebanon to qualify for Tokyo. Zaza lost in the first round but said: "My message to everyone who wishes to have the same situation: Fight for your dreams." The oldest was Mary Hanna, 66 year old Australian grandmother who participated in Equestrian. Hanna competed in her 7th Games and is the 2nd-oldest woman to ever participate in the Olympics. She's been to every Olympics since 1996. 13 year old Momiji Nishiya of Japan became the youngest gold winner of all time in women's skateboarding. 2. Participants & volunteers Ov

87.58m. Remember the number.  I had written yesterday that today could be the day of 3 medals for us. Well, we almost did it. Sadly, almost is not good enough at the Olympics where the whole world is competing for the 3 spots. But, we ended the games on a high with a GOLD! When we think Olympics, we only think of our national anthem being played at that stage. I could not believe that was actually happening!  For me, there is nothing more emotional than seeing our tricolour & hearing our national anthem.  Thank you Neeraj for letting us experience magic! 1. Golf One sport that I have never been able to get myself to watch is Golf. Well, until this week. I had no clue about the game, rules, scoring etc. Before this Olympics, I learnt about many other sports but not golf. Aditi made that happen. What an achievement! Let us get this straight. She is World no.200 & was competing with the current no.1 & former no.1s for the medal. I never thought that one day, I will be super te

Some experiences hurt a lot but you learn a lot from them. Today was one of those days. The losses hurt & I felt an emotional connect with the athletes. I was emotionally attached to this Olympics & like the atheletes, I will also learn & grow. 1. Hockey Women's Ind v GB My heart goes out to the girls. I couldn't bear to see them weeping. It is very easy for us to say 'It is ok that you did not win the medal but you won our hearts'. I am not debating that. But just imagine yourself in their shoes. I want you to think about their state of mind. The women's team has played only 2 Olympics before this. They had disappeared off the radar in the last few yrs. Their qualification this year surprised people but nobody had any hope. Then they started on a losing note. Everyone said that was expected. Suddenly, the girls came all guns blazing & turned the tide to reach the semis for the 1st time ever! Abuses were hurled at them for the semis loss. They got a

While we managed to defend a goal in the last few seconds of hockey, we lost the wrestling Bronze medal in the last few seconds! A day where we secured 2 medals for the first time ever but lost a really close one. History has been scripted. We are lucky to have witnessed it. 1. Hockey: Men's Ind v Ger: BRONZE! This year will be the turning point for us. For sports other than cricket. Our hockey teams are leading the charge! I always used to admire the Aus cricket team who never gave up & had the belief to come back from any situation. I wished India was like that. Our cricket team created magic earlier this year in Aus. With back against the wall, we found a way to win every time. We saw the fight & never say die attitude in this team too. I remember the 1st match of this games where Sreejesh put everything on the line to save goals. That did not change through this tournament. I wonder what must have gone on in his mind in that last 6 seconds today.But, the champ got us th