When the 'going gets tough, the tough gets going': Sarungbam Athouba Meitei discusses his success story

Sarungbam Athouba Meitei, a triathlete from Imphal, Manipur, recently made headlines, helping his state win two gold medals (triathlon and duathlon) at the ongoing 38th National Games.

Sportskeeda caught up with the 17-year-old to discuss his success story. Speaking about his journey, Athouba opened up about how he was introduced to swimming at a tender age. With his sister being a swimmer herself, it led to him taking it up professionally.

"About my family, we are a family of 5 and I am the youngest among the 3 siblings. My elder sister is a swimmer herself which inspired my early introduction to the sport. I was barely two when I was introduced to swimming. Initially, I pursued it as a hobby, but over time, my passion for the sport grew, leading me to take it up professionally," he said.

When asked about how he manages his training along with his education, Athouba said that since he is pursuing his Bachelor of Physical Education and Sports, it aligns with his area of interest, making it easier for him.

"I follow 90-10 rule where i dedicate 90% of my time to training and 10% to studies. Since the nature of my academics aligns with my interest area i.e. sports I am quite able to balance it with my practical learnings from training," he said.

Speaking about the challenges of playing sports like triathlon and duathlon, the teenager underlined how a combination of three sports with each demanding its own strategy is a task.

"Personally, I perceived Triathlon to be more challenging as it's a combination of three sports and each demands its own strategy. With Duathlon, which was a 2.5 km run 20 km cycle and again a 2.5km run, I was able to manage well, keeping pace with everyone especially in cycling," he described.

Behind every athlete is a journey, and Athouba's story is no less. The 17-year-old Manipuri had very little time on hand to prepare for this event. To add to it, preparing for swimming was a bigger task given the chilling winters made it difficult to swim in the waters.

"Regarding my preparation. I could only get 20 to 25 days for training since I had just returned from participating in a swimming tournament. However, during these days I worked hard and followed a rigorous schedule which consisted of cycling in the morning session from 5:00 to 8:00, thereafter in the afternoon I had my swimming session and ended the day with evening running practice," he recounted.

"This was not all smooth as there were some challenges that I had faced such as the lack of heated swimming pools made swimming a bit difficult in the chilling winters. But having said that, one should always remember when the 'going gets tough, the tough gets going'."

"Parents have always stood by me and been present during my training sessions" - Sarungbam Athouba Meitei

Athouba further dedicated his victory to his parents and his coaches and mentors who stood by him, guiding him to two podium finishes.

"My achievement in this event would not have been possible without the expertise, encouragement and guidance of my coaches, mentors and support of my family especially my parents who have always stood by me and been present during my training sessions," he said.

"I am also deeply grateful to all my well-wishers, Machaobi for getting me a new cycle, and Sir Super and Sir SP for taking time out of their busy schedules to ensure I never missed a training session."

The triathlete's focus now turns the Asia Cup, which is scheduled to take place in Chennai from February 16.