She May Not Have Won A Medal, But Aditi Ashok Has Given Us Something Bigger- Hope

Aditi Ashok Olympics: Aditi dream run at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic ended with the golfer finishing on fourth spot. While Ashok may have missed out on a medal by a sliver, she came close to winning one like no Indian ever did. That alone tells us how significant Ashok's performance over the last few days is.

Poised to win a silver at one time during the game, the player who ranks 200th in the world got stalwarts of the sport talking about her. We were expecting medals in wrestling, shooting, badminton and archery, but was the golfing event even on our minds? Did we think that this 21-year-old could show such a massive jump from finishing off at 41st position at 2016 Olympics?

Athletes like Milkha Singh, PT Usha and Dipa Karmakar walk, so that others can fly. They may not have Olympic medals to their name, but we still revere them. Why? Because they gave us hope. They told us that it was possible for India win Olympic medals at events we didn't consider to be our forte. Their performances helped shift the focus of the nation, changed perceptions, and helped secure more funds, energy and efforts for athletes who played the said sports. If you can finish fourth, what's keeping you from getting a medal at the next Olympics, or the one after that?

So this young woman will go down in history books as a pathbreaker who got Indians talking about golf- which is largely considered a niche sport.

We feel more invested in hockey, badminton, even track and field. Now with Ashok's remarkable finish in Tokyo, Indians have realised that we have it in us to make it big at this event as well. As for this exceptional golfer, she'll have more chances to win that medal and secure her name as one of the greatest women golfers of the country.

The views expressed are the author's own.

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