Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 13

Prime Minister Narendra Modi donned the role of an interviewer during his interaction with some of the athletes who will represent India at the Tokyo Olympics.

During the virtual interaction, which was also attended by sports minister Anurag Thakur, Modi quizzed several athletes about their struggles and motivation.

“Your love for the game started when you targeted mangoes with the arrows. Now you are world No. 1. Tell us about your journey,” the PM asked ace archer Deepika Kumari. “I started with the Indian bow. Despite a few struggles earlier on I got the best of facilities and best coaches and here I am today,” Deepika answered.

When asked to explain how she copes with the expectations, especially after winning three gold medals at the Paris World Cup last month, the 26-year-old replied, “There will always be expectations but I focus more on my practice and on how I will be performing once I reach there.”

The PM’s interaction with badminton star PV Sindhu brought the biggest cheers as he promised to share a cup of ice cream with her. Sindhu loves ice cream but now is on a diet before the Olympics. “Sir I am on a diet due to the preparations,” she said. To which the PM said, “We will have ice cream together when you return.”

The PM asked wrestler Vinesh Phogat if it was hard for her to cope with the expectations due to the legacy of the Phogat family. “We welcome expectations and it pushes us to work harder to achieve our goals. These expectations will end once we return to the country with a medal. Hopefully we will make the country proud,” Vinesh replied.

Table tennis stars A Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra, rifle shooter Elavenil Valarivan, tennis ace Sania Mirza and hockey skipper Manpreet Singh where some of the other athletes with whom the PM interacted.