It is a trip down memory lane which I love to take quite often. For, even now, when I look back at the Sydney Olympics 24 years later, every experience there stands out as very special for me. It was also the first-time women’s weightlifting was introduced in the Olympics.
For obvious reasons too! I created history by becoming the first-ever Indian woman athlete to win an Olympic medal — bronze in weightlifting. I am glad that I was the inspiration for many athletes who emulated that feat later on from India. Memories linger on about the whole experience of being there in the Sydney Village.
There was that typical aura around the whole venue. Unfortunately, I am bad at recalling some of the big names from other disciplines whom I have met there, but a few little things like watching them train, move around in the dining hall are some things which are fresh in my memory. Honestly, there were no real interactions with them, just informal greetings but the atmosphere was electrifying, the way the delegations from all the participating countries moved around.
Frankly, I always wanted to interact with the big names of the world of sport over the years. I have the greatest respect for them even now. The buzz of excitement and expectations were something so surreal, for me coming from such a humble background where we struggled to meet ends in my formative years back home in Amadalavalasa (Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh).
In fact, most of the athletes didn’t have the ti.