Pullela Gopichand recounts pep talk to PV Sindhu after Rio Olympics silver win. Watch

The chief coach of the Indian national badminton team Pullela Gopichand recalled at the Moneycontrol Startup Conclave 2023 in Bengaluru about the time when his former protégé PV Sindhu won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and he had to give her a pep talk to cheer her up.

Recounting that Sindhu was a little down after not finishing first, Gopichand said he wanted her to think of it as winning the silver and not losing the gold.

“She loses the final and she is depressed, a little down. And there’s one photograph where I am actually holding her and telling her this. The words which I said were: “You had a great week, you had a great year of preparation for this. Don’t think of it as though you’ve lost the gold. Think that you won the silver,” Gopichand said.

He added that he told Sindhu to celebrate her achievement when she was on the podium and not be disheartened. “And when you are on the podium I want you to have celebration for winning the silver and not thinking of it as though you lost the gold,” he said.

When pointed out that Sindhu did in fact smile and waved her hands on the podium, Gopichand shared some more insight.
“That perspective is important. Sometimes in that moment when we have probably lost a big deal, we are thinking about what we have lost but to be even to be bidding for it or to be able to be present at the presentation as an entrepreneur that’s probably a stature that you actually have,” he said comparing the athletes and entrepreneurs.