Tokyo Olympics Will Take a Toll on Athletes’ Mental Health: Gopichand

Reporter: Priyanka Rudrappa

Video Editor: Ashutosh Bhardwaj

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics which will be like no other kicked off last week. The COVID-19 pandemic has altered years of training plans of athletes. With no fans allowed in the stands and strict restrictions, the athletes will have to compete in the shadow of COVID-19.

"Typical Olympics is a lot of stress, pride, but it is also about celebration. This Olympics is not going to be the same. It is going to be about boxes, isolation, testing, treatment, social distancing. This is going to be stressful," Chief National Badminton Coach Pullela Gopichand, told FIT.

The rooms, the restrictions - all of this is going to take its toll on athletes. So, tools that help you with it, whether its a book, or app or something else is very important.

Pullela Gopichand, Chief National Badminton Coach

‘Quantifying Meditation Is Challenging'

The meditation tracking app 'Dhyana', backed by Pullela Gopichand, and in collaboration with Heartfulness Institute, will equip the Indian Olympic contingent with holistic mental and emotional wellness tools. The wearable technology helps one know how well they meditate.

Quantifying meditation and mental training is challenging, and the Dhyana app helps with it, Gopichand says.

Gopichand says his major strength came from Yoga and meditation, when he had an ACL tear as 19-year-old.

I was called the McEnroe of badminton because I would be very angry in matches. Later, I learnt to control my emotions and used my mental strength.

Pullela Gopichand, Chief National Badminton Coach

Gopichand believes that meditation has not only benefitted him as a player, but as a coach as well. More than anything, he enjoys it.

Professional Squash Player Tanvi Khanna, who discovered meditation randomly a few years back, also vouches for the benefits.

It has helped her on and off the court and become as important as brushing her teeth.

"Meditation has brought about a world of awareness to me, where, instead of engaging with my negative thoughts, I've learnt to ignore them and go back to a state of balance," she says.

‘Important To Understand Sports Better'

Gopichand says while the pressures of sports are many, the understanding is limited.

We all want victory. We're not ready to accept that losing is a part of sports. We can make heroes out of our winners and villains out of our losers.

Pullela Gopichand, Chief National Badminton Coach

"We're at a nascent stage of becoming a sporting nation, and I do believe that over time we'll get there," he says.

But it's important to understand sports much more so that the pressure no athletes is lesser, he adds.

Meanwhile, what athletes can do is get mentally stronger and not wait for the whole country to change.