Aditi Ashok grabbed eyeballs as she finished 4th at the Tokyo Olympics. She was ranked 200th in the world before the Olympics.
She punched above her weight and missed the medal by just one shot. However, the Indian golfer had to tackle obstacles like lack of funding and her daily commute during the Games.
Aditi was in the silver medal position at the end of Day 3 and had a great shot to become the first Indian golfer to win a medal at the Olympics. But because of the predicted storm, she had to rejig her schedule for the final day.
"I was in Tokyo and on the final day they moved the tee times up because there was going to be a storm in the afternoon. My start time was 8:18 AM and I need an hour-and-a-half to warm up and another half-hour before eating breakfast. And I was staying at the Village which was 75kms from the golf course which takes an hour-and-a-half to get there. So I was expected to wake up at 3 am and go play golf with world No. 1," Aditi said on India Today.
"I'm not saying that I would have won a medal if I wasn't staying that far from the course. But it would have certainly helped to get 6 more hours of sleep," explained Aditi.
Gold medallist Nelly Korda, Japanese Mone Inami and New Zealand's Lydia Ko were the medallists in Tokyo. Aditi pointed out that the travel from the golf course to the hotel was comparatively lesser for the trio.
"A lot of my competitors were staying at the IOC-approved hotels which were within 2-30 minutes from the golf course. There were a couple of golfers staying at the Village, the medallist wasn't at the Village. I was, I guess, the best golfer staying at the Village but I had an hour-and-a-half drive every morning and evening," a 23-year-old added.
The Indian golfer also explained the shortcomings of the government schemes as they are not as useful for golf as they are to some other sports.
"I know a lot of federations have done a lot and sports in India has come a long way but I do want to add, that it is still despite the system for me. The TOPS scheme only comes into effect when you qualify for the Olympics and I qualified 60 days before the Games.
"They say they are going to help you with funds but what am I going to do in 60 days before the Olympics, I'm probably going to take a couple of weeks and rest so I can't even spend the money that is eligible for me. TOPS doesn't suit golfers," Aditi said.
Aditi finished 41st at the 2016 Rio Olympics and will be eyeing the gold medal at the next Olympic Games.
"I am going to work hard for 2024. I'm already a better player in the Tokyo Olympics than I was in Rio so I'm sure I going to be a better player when I am going to Paris. I just hope the Village is not an hour-and-a-half away," she concluded.
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