It's been a week since Vikas Krishan Yadav returned to his home in Bhiwani after having won an Olympic quota at the Asia-Oceania Olympic boxing qualifiers in Jordan. The Olympic ticket, which he earned in the 69kg category, is a significant moment in Indian boxing - for it makes Vikas only the second three-time Olympian in the sport from India other than 2008 bronze medalist Vijender Singh. Despite that achievement, there haven't been any celebrations at his home.
It's partly due to the self isolation he - and other athletes who have travelled abroad - have been advised to follow to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus. But it's also because just being a three-time Olympian isn't enough for Vikas. " There is another boxer who is a three-time Olympian as well. I want to be unique. I have to do something that makes me stand out," says Vikas.
Vikas has made no bones about what being 'unique' means. He had taken a lengthy break from amateur Olympic-style boxing following the 2018 season, in which he had won a Commonwealth Games gold medal and an Asian Games bronze. He had stepped into the professional ranks, earning a contract with one of boxing's biggest promoters - Top Rank. He started well, winning his first two bouts while fighting as "the Indian tank".
Yet, in mid 2019, he walked back from his commitments as a prizefighter. "I needed to compete in the Olympics once again. I don't want to just compete there. I want to go and win the gold medal. I could have stayed as a professional but I want my kids to be proud of me. When they ask me what I did in my career, I want to be able to tell them, your father won an Olympic gold medal," Vikas had said. That goal has never wavered. "There are boxers who say, 'I'll do my best' or that 'I'll work hard' but that's not me. I'm only going to the Olympics with the gold medal in my mind," he says.
He says his confidence stems from the professional career he's left behind. Vikas had trained in New Jersey with Wally Moses, uncle and coach to the WBO featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson. "The amount of hard work I've put in there, is something I've never done in my life till now. I'd do ten kilometer runs every day in New Jersey. I've never done that in India. In India, I would train twice a day but with half the effort.
After fighting as a professional, I felt that nothing I did as an amateur could compare to it. In the professional circuit, you have to go into a bout with a strategy because the competition is for 10 rounds. It's almost like a Test match. In the Olympic style, you only have three rounds. So there's no thinking involved. It's easy. When I returned to India, my confidence was really high. I knew the power I had was so superior to anyone at this level," he says.
It's a realisation that has come in the tenth year of his senior career and probably the last in his time as an amateur. The 28-year-old is glad it has come eventually. "There's one thing when others tell you how good you are. This time I'm realising it myself. Der aye par durust aye (Better late than never)," he says.
What's added to Vikas' confidence is the fact that he's fighting in the 69kg welterweight division - one weight class lighter than the one he competed in at the 2016 Olympics and the one in which he won the 2018 CWG gold and the 2018 Asian Games bronze. "I dropped to welterweight because with the amount of effort I've been putting in, it's easy for me. I don't have to watch my diet or anything. My power is so much more than anyone. At Amman (at the Asia-Oceania Olympic qualifiers), I was doing pad work with (technical director) Santiago Nieva and he was telling me I was hitting like a heavyweight," says Vikas.
Although Vikas returned from that competition with an Olympic quota, he's not satisfied with the fact that he only won a silver - forfeiting the final match of the competition due to a cut above his eye. "When I went into the competition, I was expecting a gold medal and nothing else. While others were looking at the draw, I only wanted to be on top of the podium. Even though the cut wasn't due to a mistake, I'll try to avoid any mistake for the future," he says.
What Vikas knows, is that having qualified four months before the competition, he has time on his side. The fact that the travel restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus has affected multiple sportspersons, isn't something that's of concern to him. "Ghanta fark padta hai mujhe. (It makes no difference to me). I'm at home with my family but my thoughts are already about training. My plan was to go and train in the USA but I can have my training here as well. When I learned that I wasn't going to be able to go abroad, I said that's great. Whatever happens it's going to be good for me," he says.