'Celebrating spirit of resilience': PV Sindhu reminisces on her 1st Olympic medal

NEW DELHI: Indian Olympic medalist shuttler PV Sindhu on Sunday reminisced on winning her first-ever medal at the top-tier multi-sport event, saying that her journey since then has been life-changing and celebrated the "spirit of resilience", "the pursuit of excellence", and the "courage to chase dreams." On this day in 2016 at the Rio De Janeiro Olympics, Sindhu captured a silver medal after going down to Spain's Carolina Marin in the final of the women's singles tournament. This was Sindhu's first-ever Olympic medal.

"Seven years ago, I embarked on a journey that would forever change my life. Looking back, it's hard to believe that it's been seven long years since that momentous day when I proudly won my first Olympic medal in Rio. It was a Silver, a shining symbol of my dedication, hard work, and the unwavering support of my coaches, teammates, and fans," Sindhu said in a post on 'X', formally Twitter.

"One of the most remarkable chapters of this journey has been the intense rivalry on the court, especially the battles against Carolina. The journey to the final was a testament to the grit and determination that both of us brought to the game. The 3-set marathon final was nothing short of extraordinary, a display of skill, perseverance, and sportsmanship," she said.

"Today, as I stand at this juncture, I'm not just celebrating the medals and the wins. I'm celebrating the spirit of resilience, the pursuit of excellence, and the courage to chase dreams. Here's to the seven years that have been a mix of highs and lows, challenges and victories, but above all, a testament to the power of perseverance!!!," she added.

Since then, Sindhu's journey indeed has had a lot of ups and downs. Since then, she has captured gold in Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships in 2019, becoming the first and only Indian to become a world champion. This added to her previous four medals at the championships, out of which two were silver and two were bronze medals.

In April 2017, she reached her career-best world number-two rank among women's players. She also captured a bronze medal in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in women's singles competition. Sindhu also went on to capture gold and silver each in women's singles and mixed team competitions at the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games.

She also won a silver medal in the Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta. But right now, she is currently going through a phase that could be amongst the lowest in her career, battling inconsistent form and injuries. She has competed in 14 BWF World Tour tournaments so far but has failed to win gold at any of these events. Out of these, she was eliminated in the first round of seven competitions.

She did reach the final of the Spain Masters in April but lost to Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the title clash. Sindhu also reached the semifinals of the Malaysia Masters and Canada Open.

Now as of August 2023, she has slipped to world number 15. With the Asian Games starting on September 23, 2023, in China, Sindhu will be aiming to regain her best form to win a medal for India.