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WHEN I was growing up I had this notion that sports was for those who weren’t good learners. Perhaps it was what I told myself because I was top of my class but almost always last in the 100m dash.
It was a horrible misconception that I am ashamed to admit, as I have since come to realise, from working with athletes over the past 20 years, that it takes an incredible amount of intelligence and it requires an endless process of learning, to first become, and then remain, an elite athlete.
Despite athletes focusing on only one sport day and night, in their careers, there is a lot of learning that happens to become the best amongst the elite they compete against.
Our shuttler Thinaah Muralitharan is a shining example. The 23-year-old shot into the limelight earlier this year when she along with her doubles partner Pearly Tan clinched their maiden badminton World Tour title by winning the Swiss Open. It was a huge result for the duo and put our women’s doubles shuttlers under the spotlight again. But it might not have happened if Muralitharan had not opted to switch paths.
Malaysia's Pearly Tan (L) looking on as teammate Muralitharan Thinaah hits a return against Thailand's Benyapa Aimsaard and Nuntakarn Aimsaard during their Yonex Thailand Open women's doubles - AFP pic, April 24, 2021
Muralitharan started off as a singles player, but was having trouble finding success. She grew tired of constantly being eliminated in the early stages of a tournament and came close to calling it quits. But before she gave up on the sport that she loved, she spoke with her coaches and asked to crossover to playing doubles.
Making such a transition, even within the sport is never an easy feat and there was a lot to learn about playing the doubles game at such a high level. At the Swiss Open, unseeded Muralitharan and Tan managed to dispatch second seeds and teammates Chow Mei Kuan and Lee Meng Yean in the semi-finals before defeating the third seeds from Bulgaria to clinch the title. Muralitharan’s decision to learn a new discipline within her sport paid off.
Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz from the Philippines shared with me her story of how she has had to deal with the changes in her life and to her sport in order to remain a medal hopeful for the Tokyo Olympic Games.The Filipino started competing in the 58kg weight class and had some success but was often battling injuries. She took it upon herself to learn about nutrition and changed her lifestyle to start eating better to improve her performance.
As she improved her health, she also ended up losing weight. It was hard for her to try and make the 58kg category and so Diaz opted to drop down to the 53kg weight class. It was a real struggle for her to keep her weight that low, and she confessed that ahead of the 2015 world championships, she even resorted to cutting her hair off to help shed weight.
Eventually she learnt to manage it and started to find her stride. Diaz picked up numerous podium finishes in her new weight class which culminated with clinching silver at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. In doing so, she became the first woman from the Philippines to ever win an Olympic medal.
Just when things seemed to be going her way, the weight categories for the upcoming Games in Tokyo were revised. The 53kg weight class was abolished and Diaz had to move into the 55kg weight category. She shared that it felt almost like being back to square one. But this time around she had more experience and maturity under her belt.
Since making the switch, Diaz has relearnt her sport and has slowly worked her way back onto the podium, including finishing third at the 2019 world championships in her new weight class. When I spoke to her during lockdown, she was determined to be at her best to try and rewrite history from being the first woman to win an Olympic medal for her nation, to becoming the Philippines’ maiden Olympic gold medallist.
This global pandemic that surrounds us has forced athletes around the world to rethink their approach to train for their sport. During lockdown some swimmers resorted to installing tubs in their backyards and tied a rope around their waist, so they could “swim” in the tubs to get some sort of training in. One athlete even completed a marathon by running in circles around his own living room.
This past year has helped shine a spotlight on some of the other important characteristics it takes to be an athlete, like strategic thinking, resilience, endurance, emotional intelligence and a strong mental state to name a few. It takes a very smart individual to hone all these as well as staying in the best physical shape.
I used to think that athletes didn’t need to learn much. But now I know that there is a lot that I can learn from them. - The Vibes. April 24, 2021
