Tokyo Olympics 2020: COVID-19 infection has not deterred my confidence, focus is on Games, says Navjot Kaur

Bengaluru: Having fully recovered from COVID-19, Indian women’s hockey team forward Navjot Kaur on Monday said the deadly virus couldn’t deter her confidence of doing well in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. Navjot was among the seven women’s team players, including skipper Rani Rampal, who had tested positive for the virus after returning to the national camp following a 10-day break. All the players were asymptomatic and since then had recovered from the infection after being in quarantine for 14 days. “It was very disappointing when we heard that we had tested positive for COVID-19. Our immediate concern was how did we get infected despite following all protocols,” said Navjot. “Though we had very mild symptoms, just spending two weeks in isolation was very challenging,” she said. The Tokyo Olympics are to be held from 23 July to 8 August. While the players have resumed activities on Monday, their return to high intensity training will be done in a phased manner. “Today we had a light session and it felt really good to be back on the field. Since I didn’t have any symptoms, I would do basic movements in the room itself to keep up my fitness and flexibility. I particularly wanted to keep my mind occupied,” Navjot said. “We are not letting these challenges deter our confidence. These are challenging times for all those athletes training for the Olympic Games but it’s important to remain focused on the goal and that is same approach we have.”