New Delhi: The coveted Olympic medal eluded him for the second successive time but boxer Akhil Kumar on Tuesday said that he has not lost the motivation to continue and would make his third bid for a podium finish at London 2012. The 27-year-old pugilist, who would be 31 by the time the next edition of the Games takes place, said he would work on his fitness to keep himself in contention for London.
"Make no mistake, I will be there for London. I have the motivation and I am very confident of being fit enough for the 2012 Olympics," the bantam weight (54kg) boxer, who created quite a flutter in Beijing by beating world champion Sergey Vodopyanov before losing in the quarterfinals, said in an interview.
Missing out on the Olympic medal which could so easily have been his, had he beaten his lower-ranked Moldovan opponent in the quarterfinals, still hurts him but Akhil said learning from defeat is what makes a great athlete.
"Yes it was heartbreaking. Reaching so far and then not getting the medal is agonising but you have to learn and move on. It is behind me and I have to refocus myself for the task ahead," he said. "But it is still a great achievement that for the first time five boxers reached the Olympics, three of them made the quarterfinals and one (Vijender Singh) went on to win the bronze medal. I am happy that boxing is finally on the front pages of newspapers and making headlines on news channels." (PTI)
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