Winning Olympics after the grenade explodes in hand!

Károly Takács, a Hungarian shooter, has a life story worth listing. We all have moments in life when everything seems as if its end of the world, and we see no way out.

Károly Takács was a sergeant in the Hungarian army. In 1938, a twenty-eight years old was country’s top pistol shooter and having won all the major awards was all set for the biggest championship, 1940 Tokyo Olympics Games. But then disaster struck, During army training, a faulty grenade exploded in his right hand, his shooting hand. Two years before the big game, Not only did his Olympics dream crashed, but he had a lost limb, he lost shooting hand. ‘Why me?’ Károly could have asked, an understandable reaction to such a tragic event and everyone would sympathize with him after losing what defined him.

Károly had mental strength and a mindset of a winner, determination to succeed and decided to focus on his goal. He chooses to focus on what had and not what he didn’t.

After a month in the hospital, a lot of physical and emotional pain, He secretly started to practice with his left hand. Sure it was not easy. (try to throw a ball or write on paper with your left hand) he stayed focus on his goal, to make his left hand the best shooting hand in the world.

A year later, in 1939 Károly resurfaced at the national shooting championship in Hungary, and to everyone’s surprise, he won the championship. Next two Olympic Games stood canceled due to the Second World War (scheduled for 1940 and 1944). But Károly shocked the world by winning the gold medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics.

His decision to practice secretly away from everyone was significant. It is easy for people to ridicule you from going after your dreams in tough situations, and comfortable for you with sympathy from all over. Winning an Olympics gold is less about hand and more about the mind.

Winning is less about skills and more about attitude. Skills can be acquired, gained and learned. It’s about mindset, the winning mindset !!