Viren Rasquinha & Olympic Gold Quest

We're probably feeling proud of our athletes with the third medal for India at Paris 2024, and there's absolutely no doubt about their hard work and mettle that led to this. But another fun fact, all 3 of them have been supported by Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ).

A lot of credit goes to Viren Rasquinha and the fantastic team at OGQ, and I remember watching this interview at the Indian School of Business campus only a week ago about OGQ and his mental model (watch from 7 mins onwards). And, all the pieces start to make sense. As an alum myself, couldn't help relating to his interview and feeling proud myself. 

1. Making an impact in Indian sport: Viren was captain on the Indian Hockey Team before setting up OGQ as founding CEO about fifteen years ago - and across the past 3 Olympics (London, Rio, Tokyo), 9 of those 15 medal winners were looked after by OGQ. Here's what struck me most from his interview: "I know when I played at the Athens 2004 Olympics, India just missed out - we lost a very crucial match to Australia. I remember crying on the sidelines till around 12 midnight and I remember being angry and frustrated not because India lost, not because one of us made a mistake. I was just angry and frustrated at the system which I felt did not gear us well enough to handle the pressure against the best teams in the world. At the highest level of sport, it will boil down to tiny margins, and I felt we were not trained in the right process to do that. I think out of that sadness that had enveloped me at Athens and when Geet Sethi and Prakash Padukone approached me to be a part of OGQ, I just took it as an opportunity and a challenge to try and change to make positive changes in Indian sport."

2. The Winning Mindset comes from solid world class training: It takes a lot of courage to succeed in sport: "Everyone tends to see the finish line, but I actually see the the effort that goes behind the scenes -the blood sweat and tears every single day at 5:30 in the morning when no one is watching. Versus telling a young kid to believe in yourself, it comes from solid world class training every every single day and that's where an organization like OGQ has to make a difference. It's similar to business school, where you learn the technical skills, but more importantly the life skills to help you succeed."

3. Sport has this amazing power to elevate young kids: The story of Mirabai Chanu is quite well known. She failed at the Rio 2016 Olympics, not making a single successful lift. After training with OGQ, in 2021 at Tokyo, Mirabai Chanu won the Olympic silver medal. Three months after, at the Weightlifting National Championship, the number of girls that participated almost quadrupled. Sport not just elevates the nation, makes all of us feel proud, it gives hope and belief to a million young kids out there in some small town, village that you can do whatever you want in life.