There is inspiration everywhere in sport to bounce back from rock bottom. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were expected to play the Olympic finals this Sunday, but returned with not even a shot at the podium. The disappointment is all too raw, and the kindest thing afforded to them will be to not think about the future for some time. To allow the hurt to subside, soak up the stray verbal stabs from assorted sudden-experts, and then to eventually let the pain of missing out stew, and check if it’s worth letting it bubble into inspiration.
Their Tokyo failure set them up for three years of incredible improvement. It might not have been good enough to win an Olympic medal, but there was remarkable consistency in chasing excellence. Satwik-Chirag achieved what very few other Olympic legends can claim to have – they kept badminton fans hooked to the sport for the period in between two Games. Getting millions to watch the sport even without the big occasion on the circuit, has been the highlight of the Tokyo-to-Paris turnaround.