He Tokyo tales of debutants: jokovic, delight and nerves
Inseparable from the t since the age of 10, CA ani Devi has been to countencing arenas—big, small, onal, international. Yet, ething about the Makuhari se Hall in the Chiba Prefecstood out. hose rings,” Bhavani said, ring to the Olympic symbol. ry day when I walked into area for training, I could see the rings, lights and the fenthat feeling was very new, special.” e 27-year-old was in Tokyo er maiden Games as the and only Indian fencer to part in the Olympics. For ani and many other debus among the 127-strong n contingent, the Olympics a mere collection of stories ey got there. That made the Tokyo Games as much t performances and results was about being an experi. Of its unparalleled atmose, the charm of the Games ge, the buzz of athletes from ound the globe. life-changing experience,” table tennis player G Sathi“goosebumps stuff. That ng that everyone talks about, erienced it first hand—the ement, the energy.” t, this was an Olympics like
other; delayed by a year held amid a pandemic and multiple restrictions and ocols. There were no spectawas happening in Tokyo. “The city looked a little dead due to the pandemic. But being in the Village itself, it hits you that, ‘OK, you’re at the Olympics where literally the entire world comes together and stays at one place’,” said Patel.
And clicks pictures with Novak Djokovic. The world No.1 tennis player was, quite evidently, the star of the show in Tokyo. “Every time I saw Djokovic in the Village, there was a line of athletes wanting to take pictures with him. But he always smiled and posed with everywhich sport I play, and was a little surprised to have fans from table tennis as well.”
Even Ankita Raina, India’s top women’s singles tennis pro who has seen the Serb at multiple Slams before but didn’t feel the need to disturb him, couldn’t hold back. “I saw so many athletes ask him for a picture so I just couldn’t resist!” she said.
Raina, who paired with Sania Mirza for doubles, also felt a different vibe in the gym inside the Village by just watching athletes across sport do their thing. “I was in awe during my gym sestingent setting up a makeshift gym in their apartment basement, and the Aussies setting up beach chairs and a large TV in their lawn. “Some teams had come to not only compete but also have a good time,” she said.
For the fencer who won her first match at the Games, the Tokyo tryst was more special because her mother travelled as an “extra official”. With her mother staying in a hotel outside the Village, Bhavani was worried about how she would travel alone to the competition venue, a 45-minute cab drive. “She had never travelled by herself anywhere before. But when I was stepped on the piste for my first match, I saw her sitting in the stands in front of me. I don’t know how she did that! The Olympics was her dream too. I can never forget that moment in my life,” said Bhavani.
Like Patel can’t forget the first day she entered the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, the main competition pool. “The moment I walked in, I was like, s***, this is big,” she said. Five days before her 100m backstroke heat, the Indians were assigned training slots along with the American and Australian teams. And that meant Patel could see the likes of Ryan Murphy, Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Titmus go about their business from close quarters. “It was amazing,” she said.
But being at the Olympics for the first time can be nerve-jangling too, something Patel experienced first-hand. The 21-year