Neeraj to Dalilah, challenge to stay motivated at the top

They say it's lonely at the top. Tell that to an elite athlete and they wouldn't trade that loneliness for anything.

- Shantanu Srivastava

NEW DELHI: There is, however, a shelf life for most things, motivation included. For individuals accustomed to winning, finding the desire to keep doing it day after day, season after season, especially after achieving everything there is to, can be taxing.

In his autobiography A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold, 2008 Beijing Games gold medallist Abhinav Bindra describes the void he felt soon after winning the 10m air rifle gold to become India's first individual Olympic champion. All of 25 then, Bindra was already a world champion and a two-time Olympian. With the world at his feet, he had little drive to pick up his weapon again.

Swedish tennis great Bjorn Borg was 26 when he abruptly called time on his grand career, as did Australia's Ashleigh Barty, who retired as world No. 1 two months after winning her third Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open. "I don't have the physical drive, the emotional want and everything it takes to challenge yourself at the very top level anymore. I am spent," she had said. In his recent Netflix docuseries, Carlos Alcaraz: My Way, the 21-year-old Spanish four-time Grand Slam champion speaks of the toll it takes chasing tennis glory.