Keralite swimmer Sajan Prakash has termed the Tokyo Olympics a great learning experience.
Sajan had become the first Indian swimmer to breach the Olympic Quota 'A' mark by clocking1:56:38 seconds in the men's 200m butterfly event at the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome last month. However, the Idukki native found the going tough at Tokyo 2020. He could only manage 1:57.22s to finish 24th among 38 swimmers in his pet event.
The 27-year-old, competing in his second Olympics, also failed to progress to the semifinals in 100m butterfly with a time of 53.45s.
In fact all three Indian swimmers -- Prakash, Srihari Nataraj, and Maana Patel – failed to match their personal best times in Tokyo.
However, Sajan has made it clear that he will bounce back from the setback and vowed to work hard. He also had a gentle reminder that the athletes sometimes have to fight the system in India and it's not an easy task.
“After all the years of training and competing, the countless moments that I have cherished have been filled with more disappointments than successes. We only learn from our failures and this is the most important experience to be successful. Like it or not, I believe that’s life. We work hard day in and day out, being committed to the sport for many consecutive years to achieve our goal, yet we fail to make it on that day.
We certainly believed in the process and tried our best to become successful by utilising all the resources we could afford, and the support of my people and my team. Sometimes we fight the system and it’s never easy.
My second Olympics was a great learning experience and again a dream come true. But I promise from here we will get better everyday and as the Olympic motto says, ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together’,” wrote Sajan on his Facebook page.
