Lakshya Sen revealed how his phone was taken away by strict coach Prakash Padukone, hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh talked about his team's thrilling run while everyone shared a good laugh on the air conditioning woes in Paris when Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a reception for the Indian contingent after its fairly decent Olympic campaign. (Medal Table | Full Coverage | More Sports News)
The Prime Minister hosted the contingent after the Independence Day celebrations at Red Fort, where to the athletes were in🌞 attendance on Thursday. The video of the interaction was shared by Modi and the athletes c🅷ould be seen having one-on-one chats with the PM.
To this, Lakshya replied: "Yes sir. But during matches, Prakash Sir took my phone and told me till the matches were over, I wo𒉰uldn't get my phone. But after that, I got to know the supp🦂ort I got.
"It was a learning experience and a little heart-breaking as well because I came so close," said the 22-year-old who lost from a position of strꦏength in the bronze playoff.
A laughing Modi instantly said: "Prakash Sir was so disciplined an🍨d strict, I will send him the next time as well."
The Pari💙s Olympics were promoted as eco-friendly Games. So, there were no air conditioners in any rooms in the Games village, forcing the sports ministry to dispatch 40 portable ACs on an urgent basis for their comfortable stay.
A laughing Modi asked all the athle🎀tes who all cursed him for the situation, to which no one replied.
"There were no AC💮s and it was hot💧 as well, so I want to know which of you cried first saying 'Modi speaks big but there are no ACs in rooms so what should we do'," Modi said.
"Who all are there who faced the most difficulti🐓es? But then I ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚlearnt that within a few hours that work also was done. See, how we try to provide you with the best of facilities," the Prime Minister added.
Modi also had a light-hearted chat with Harman🥃preet, who ope🌳ned up on how the team fought back after being down to 10 men for more than 40 minutes in the quarterfinal against Great Britain.
"Just tell me when you fought with 10 men against Britain, you must have been demoralised from the st♋art, Sarpanch Saab, please tell, it was very difficult," Modi asked the 𒁏India captain, addressing him with his nickname.
Hไarmanpreet replied: "Yes Sir, it was very difficult because we got the red card in the first quarter but our coaching staff helped♏ us a lot. We visualised every situation because in the Olympics anything can happen. The motivation of the team also increased because we have a rivalry with GB (Britain)."
M﷽𒁏odi interrupted and laughingly said: "It has been going on for the last 150 years."
Harmanpreet said: "We fought and ended the match 1-1 and won it in shoot-out. It never happened in Oly🍬mpics history (playing with 10 menꦏ for 42 minutes and then winning)."
Paris Olympics launch-pad for Indian sports' rise
Modi believes the just-concluded Paris Olympics is going to be a turning point for▨ India. The 117-member Indian contingent returned with six medals, including one silver and five bronze. The count was one less than Tokyo and there was no gold in the tally this time.
But Modi appreciated the efforts of all athletes who represented the country and said their inputꩵs will help in s𒆙uccessfully getting the hosting rights of the 2036 Games.
"Those who have returned after losing, please get this out of your mind. You made the country proud and came back after learning something. Sport🌊s is one area where no one loses, everybody learns," Modi said.
"I believe the Paris Olympics will be a launch pad for the rise of Indian sports. This is going to be our turning point. After that, there will only be wi𝄹ns. We are not going to stop," the Prღime Minister added.
The Prime Minister termed the athlet🐟es as "India's soldiers of the 2036 Olympics".
"India is preparing to host the 2036 Ol🍌ympics. In this case, for many athletes who played in the Olympics, their input is very important. You might have ob꧂served many things there, from Olympics planning to all facilities, from sports management to event management," Modi said.
"Your experiences, your observations, we need to write them down, so in 2036 Olympics all the little things and experiences of yours will help us in prepari🐟ng for the Games. In one way you are soldiers of the 2036 Olympics," he added.
