Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday highlighted the struggle, grit and determination of the Commonwealth Games-bound athletes in a light-hearted interaction as he urged them to forget expectations and focus only on giving their best at the Birmingham multi-sport event.
Among others, the PM spoke to 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable, weightlifter Achinta Sheuli, women's hockey player Salima Tete, cyclist David Beckham and para shot putter Sharmila during a virtual interactive session.
Well aware of their back stories, Modi asked how the athletes overcame the hurdles in their lives.
"I joined Indian Army in 2012 and did normal duty for four years. After that I took up athletics. The hard army training and the tough Siachen Glacier posting helped me a lot during competitions," Sable said.
"In my event there are a lot of obstacles, we have to jumps through hurdles similar to how army training like crawling."
The interaction was also attended by the likes of Olympic double medallist PV Sindhu, women's hockey goalkeeper Savita Punia, Rio Games bronze medallist wrestler Sakshi Malik, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, boxers Shiva Thapa and Sumit, shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen.
The CWG is scheduled to be held in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8 with a total of 215 Indian athletes participating in 141 events across 19 sporting disciplines.