How athletes deal with ‘noise’ and find their zone

Bindra took a swig of whisky the night before his Olympic final, Bhaker has turned to journaling and Chopra chooses not to be a stickler for pre-event rituals

New Delhi/Paris: It’s a well-worn story but worth a quick retelling. The night before his Olympic final in Beijing, Abhinav Bindra, nervous and unable to sleep, gulped down some whiskey and shot a historic gold the next day.

Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra. (REUTERS)

The Indian contingent officially kick-starts their campaign in Paris on Saturday. All their training, conditioning, pep talks, every insight accrued over the years to shut out the proverbial outside ‘noise’ will be put to the test. While whiskey might sound tempting, it