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The Indian men’s hockey team made history after bagging two consecutive bronze medals. Team India, led by Harmanpreet Singh, transformed from a side prone to conceding goals under pressure to one demonstrating remarkable mental strength at the Summer Games in Paris.
Singh attributed this success to the team’s mental conditioning coach, Paddy Upton, who organized a three-day boot camp with Swiss adventurer Mike Horn before the Olympics. This experience played a crucial role in strengthening the team’s bond.
"Yes, definitely, the mental toughness of this side is totally different. We are a united bunch and we backed each other and motivated each other when chips were down," Harmanpreet told PTI.
"From first to last (game), we played as a unit and backed each other in search of the gold medal. Definitely Paddy Upton has a big role to play in this. Even the three-day camp with Mike Horn before the Olympics made our bond more strong. So mentally we were in a good space," he added.
Harmanpreet Singh stresses the importance of the three-day camp
Notably, Paddy Upton previously worked with the Indian cricket team during their World Cup 2011 winning campaign, and he was onboarded with the Indian men’s hockey team in March 2023. He arranged a similar camp for the South African cricket team in 2012.
It was Upton’s idea to have a camp with Mike Horn before the team went to the French capital. The three-day camp in Switzerland included activities such as cycling, climbing, and rappelling down waterfalls, all designed to improve team bonding and build trust among players.
Harmanpreet Singh stated that the camp helped the Indian team when they faced a tough situation in the quarter-final against Great Britain, as they played with 10 members for more than 40 minutes after Amit Rohidas was shown a red card for dangerous play.
Nevertheless, the Indian team went on to draw level with 1-1 in regulation time and bagged a win in the shootout, with goalkeeper PR Sreejesh shining in the crucial moments.
Although the team aimed for a gold medal in Paris, Harmanpreet acknowledged that winning a second consecutive bronze is an achievement they can be proud of.
