An Olympian Arises...

It was a bright sunny day. I wore my running suit, sipped a couple of energy drinks and was on my feet. Not only was I carrying the brand logo of famous brands like Repsol and IBM, I was running for my country. I had to make it on the other side. I had no choice.

My coach was a young fella. Much younger to me; but way more experienced. He has tried qualifying for the Olympics, but somehow he was my coach. Some things don’t need rationale, you’ll know why. I don’t know what happened to his Olympic dream; neither did I have the time to probe it. Against me stood similar looking Indian men trying to pedal-to-the-medal. We all wanted to qualify, but only one could.

Stood among all the participants was a rival coach, the face I could barely see. He wore a black metal band t-shirt, with camouflage three fourths, and sported huge dreadlocks. He didn’t trust his kid, so eyed me all the while to break my confidence as he muttered anti-Calvin comments. Yet I could not see his face. It appeared blur and foiled with hair. But I had to keep my cool. Despite being a gullable kid, I knew it I had no choice, I had to run the race…run to win it.

After three grueling rounds of eliminations, I was still in the game. And so was the dreadlock rival. This got me a little worried, but I could not afford to lose focus. I knew I had to and I had to win this run. It was the ultimate decider. The gun fired, and we all roared through the mucky tracks. Mud and sweat flying around in a quest to win the race! I changed gears, at least I felt like I did, and I speeded up. My hands moved fast; my legs faster. I crossed some of the top notch runners. Although I didn’t see them, I could feel I was taking the lead.

With the lead running in my favor I knew I had to focus to sustain it. Then, came the steep right curve. My friends and well wishes stood at the curve. I tried to focus, but with the cheers they had, I could not help but drop an optimistic smile. Someone this enhanced my focus. I was smiling through as I headed towards the finish line.

The final 10 seconds begin to clock. I could see runners struggle to keep up their pace. I thought they had raced me and I had another lap to cover. I speeded up even more. I could feel my veins pumping the adrenaline in my legs. Within seconds, I could not believe what I saw; the untouched finish line. I crossed it. I knew I had made it. I had qualified for the Olympics. Again, within seconds I could see the rival coach throwing bottles and energy drinks all around. I knew my victory was bitter for him.

Qualifying for the Olympics had always been my dream. And this time it was no different. It was a dream. I heard my mom’s encore to rush for work. But, who pays heed when u just qualified for the Olympics? My dreams normally end up when I’m just about to win a race or a boxing match. This time around it was complete. I had qualified for the Olympics…a dream which I will never forget; a dream now which you also will never forget after reading so much text.

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