Indian badminton star P V Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medalist, on Monday opened up on her podium finishes at the world's biggest sporting event, saying that while the world sees the medals, the effort put into winning them often goes unnoticed
Speaking during the convocation ceremony at FLAME University in Pune, Sindhu summed up her hard journey towards two Olympics medals in few words,.
"The world sees the medal, but they do not see the 4 am alarms, the tears, the losses, and the days you show up when you do not want to. At the Olympics, you do not just fight for a podium -- you fight for every invisible battle you have won to get there."
Sindhu won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics in women's singles competition and followed it with a bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, making her the first-ever Indian woman to win two Olympic medals.
On how players deal with failure, she added, "In sport, sometimes you do not just show up after failure -- sometimes you show up while literally breaking. And that is where champions are built."
The ace shuttler shared personal anecdotes and hard-earned lessons from her career, striking an emotional chord with the audience. In a heartfelt moment during her speech, Sindhu spoke about her special connection with the university as her husband, Venkata Datta Sai, a businessman, is an alumnus of FLAME.
"This was not just a speech for me, it was personal. My husband studied here, and FLAME has shown up in so many moments of my life. Today felt like a beautiful full-circle moment -- finally attending a FLAME graduation and sharing the lessons I have learned from podiums, heartbreaks, and relentless early mornings," Sindhu said.
Sindhu will next be seen in action at the Malaysia Masters tournament, which begins on Tuesday at the Stadium Axiata Arena KL Sports City in Kuala Lumpur.
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