Out of place: When Prakash Padukone was amidst Olympians

Prakash Padukone retired from badminton in 1991, but only after becoming the first Indian to win the prestigious All England Championship. He runs his own badminton academy and with former billiards champ Geet Sethi, he started Olympic Gold Quest to bring forward the Olympic-worthy talent.


Picture: BCCL

But Padukone, himself, never played at any Olympic games. Sadly, badminton was included in the event only in 1992. At a panel discussion recently, where many Olympians like Ian Thorpe and Anjali Bhagwat came together to talk about the upcoming event in Rio, Padukone was asked how athletes deal with the pressure at the Olympics. He quickly remarked, “In this panel, I am the only nonOlympian.”

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