New Delhi: They say it’s lonely at the top. Tell that to an elite athlete and they wouldn’t trade that loneliness for anything. There is, however, a shelf life for most things, motivation included. For individuals accustomed to winning, finding the desire to keep doing it day after day, season after season, especially after achieving everything there is to, can be taxing.
In his autobiography A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold, 2008 Beijing Games gold medallist Abhinav Bindra describes the void he felt soon after winning the 10m air rifle gold to become India’s first individual Olympic champion. All of 25 then, Bindra was already a world champion and a two-time Olympian. With the world at his feet, he had little drive to pick up his weapon again.
Swedish tennis great Bjorn Borg was 26 when he abruptly called time on his grand career, as did Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, who retired as world No.1 two months after winning her third Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open. “I don’t have the physical drive, the emotional want and everything it takes to challenge yourself at the very top level anymore. I am spent,” she had said. In his recent Netflix docuseries, Carlos Alcaraz: My Way, the 21-year-old Spanish four-time Grand Slam champion speaks of the toll it takes chasing tennis glory.
For Dalilah Muhammad, the 2016 Rio Olympics 400m hurdles champion, motivation came from humility. “There is the temptation to sit back and put your feet up, but somehow I kept finding the desire to keep going,” said the 35-year-old, who is in India for the World 10K Bengaluru.
After the American won gold at Rio, Dalilah went on to win at the 2019 Doha World Championships (2019), setting a then world record. By the time the 2021 Tokyo Olympics arrived, she had four world championships medals and the Rio gold.
“I never forget where I come from. Every time I needed reminding, I thought of my family and coaches who have done so much for me. I just wanted to keep winning.
“I think in our sport, we’re always focussing on what’s next. It’s really important to just take that time to enjoy the moment that you’re in and the moment that’s been given to you. You need to enjoy those moments with the people that have got you there. That really kept me going.”
More recently, two-time Olympic medallist and reigning world champion Neeraj Chopra spoke about looking beyond medals while expressing his desire to give back to Indian sports via the NC Classic, an elite javelin event scheduled in Bengaluru on May 24.
“I have won Olympic and other medals for the country. Now with this event, I am giving back something to Indian athletics, to Indian athletes and the fans,” Chopra said. Revising one’s benchmarks helps keep the competitive juices flowing. For Chopra, chasing the 90m mark stands out as a major goal, and motivation to keep pushing himself.
Earlier this year, badminton ace PV Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, said the desire to win major medals keeps her going despite a prolonged run of poor form.
“I still have that fire in me. I know that I can do it. It’s just a matter of time and rhythm. I definitely want to win another World Championships medal. I want to win All England. I want to win big tournaments like the World Tour Finals. I have won medals in all of them but still every time I go on court I always want to win,” she said.
And then, there’s always the desire to break new ground. “At one point, 52 seconds seemed astronomical. And here we have women who can run 50 seconds in the 400m hurdles. Just breaking that 52-sec barrier, and even potentially breaking 49, it definitely kept me motivated,” Dalilah said. Her personal best is 51.58 seconds.
In Tokyo, young Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone beat Dalilah to gold. The US hurdler lowered the world record to 50.37 secs last August. “You can see someone who is capable of greatness. It pushes you to want to be great as well, especially when Sydney came on the scene in her freshman year of college, she ran really well and got the collegiate record,” Dalilah said.
“I knew she’d always be a threat… So, she’s definitely pushed me along the journey.”
In her farewell season, Dalilah’s motivations have found new avenues and she wants to be a role model, ambassador of the sport she dominated.
“I want to just be a voice for our sport. And I really think that track and field needs to be at the level of NFL or NBA. That’s where our sport needs to be headed. That’s my motivation.”
