NEW DELHI; Fencer CA Bhavani Devi had made history when she became the first-ever from the country to make it to the Olympics. She did not leave it at that, winning her first round match before losing to eventual bronze medallist and World No 3 Manon Brunet of France in the next round. It might not look like much, but for a nation where fencing has never really made it to the headlines, this might be a watershed moment.
And the Chennai athlete is quite proud of the fact that people are showing interest in the sport thanks to her exploits and she hopes things will improve even further in the days to come. "I have received messages from people who admitted they woke up early to watch my match. That in itself is a big achievement. More people will get to know about the sport and we have talented youngsters coming up and hopefully, they will receive the right kind of support from all stakeholders as I got prior to the Olympics. The Fencing Association Of India president Rajeev Mehta has also promised more world-class centres so hopefully, the future will be brighter," the sabre fencer said during a virtual interaction facilitated by SAI on Wednesday.
There have been instances on social media of athletes getting trolled after losing as well as backlash if an athlete does not perform up to expectations. Bhavani had tweeted out a long apology after her loss, hoping people would forgive her and keep supporting her. The responses she received were overwhelming and even the prime minister had sent out a message of support.
"Tokyo is my first Olympics, but it's not like you can't win a medal in your first Olympics. So, when I went to Tokyo, I went there to win a medal for my country and when I lost in the second round, I was very disappointed. So, I posted about my feelings because I knew people were keeping an eye on my performance. I got a lot of positive responses, which made me very happy because a medal winner always gets a lot of encouragement, but even those who don't win need that support, and I could see that change in the country. As an athlete, we know that winning and losing is a part of the sport and we have to move forward but sometimes it is difficult to self-motivate but PM sir's message helped me recover."
The goal now is to keep working hard as that is the primary ingredient to achieve success. And the 27-year-old revealed that she did not allow any other problems to distract her in her pursuit of excellence. "Before the Olympics, we knew that our venue was one hour far from the Village. I said I have already travelled 15 years to arrive here, so for me, this two hour or one hour journey will not affect me. The goal now is to improve on my tactical movement and strategies. I got good feedback from my matches and I will continue to work even harder and I promise to do better in future competitions," she signed off.
Bhavani began her individual sabre campaign with a confident 15-3 win against Tunisia's Nadia Ben Azizi before her eventual ouster in Round 2 where she lost 7-15.