Nothing comes close to Olympics

Says Nikhil Kanetkar who represented India in badminton at the the 2004 Athens Games

Representing India at the 2004 Athens Olympics was undoubtedly the best experience of my sporting career. Everything at the Olympics was grand - the main stadium, the opening ceremony and the quality of matches.

It was a congregation of not only the best sports personalities but also various cultures and languages.

One of the highlights of Olympics is the chance you get to meet sports superstars which is not possible otherwise. Meeting Roger Federer at the Olympics venue was quite sensational.

The experience at the Olympics Village is phenomenal.

Where else will you see top athletes around the world walking in to the dining hall?  I really enjoyed my experience at the Olympics village where people and cultures mixed together.

During my stay at Athens, among other athletes, I met Ian Thorpe, Martina Navratilova and Araxta Sanchez as well.

Athens was not only about getting fascinated by the Olympics atmosphere. I enjoyed playing as well. In fact, I won my first round match beating Sergio llopis of Spain.

I lost in the round of 16 to Peter Gade of Denmark. Gade has been one of the world’s top-ranked players for a number of years.

However, I was not disappointed with my performance at Athens.

Though I have played in number of tournaments around the world,  and have participated in Asian Games, nothing comes even close to  Olympics in terms of quality, human spirit and sheer sporting extravaganza.

—As told to Dhananjay Khadilkar