SHAUNAE MILLER-UIBO DIVED TO WIN 400M RACE AT RIO OLYMPICS 2016

 Shaunae Miller-Uibo, the athlete who dived to win the 400m race at the Rio Olympics

Shaunae Miller-Uibo is from Bahamas.. She was queried whether she did deep diving as she was from Bahamas.

The reply was, "No. I donot. I'd like to try it."

The journalist fired another salvo at her. 

"But you did dive for the finish line to win Gold in Rio."

And she responded, "No. I haven't dived in Bahamas. But I did in Rio and it helped me secure Gold."

In the 2024 Paris Olympics, she competed in the women's 400m. She was pregnant. She was  in her second trimester. She did the maximum she could. She did not win any medal. She was unable to get through the initial heats as she was struggling with a recurring hamstring/leg injury. But she had her own personal goals. She went out to achieve them. She said she had fun competing with the ladies.

She parried two questions put to her.

1. You've been competing at the highest level for a long time. You longevity is insane, winning bak to back Olympic Golds.

2. What's more difficult, winning for the first time or defending it later.

"Definitely defending it. On the first occasion you've that underdog feeling where it's just keeping at it. There is an exciting thrill. The second time, you are defending it. Everyone is coming and chasing you. It means you have to work extra hard. You've to put in a lot more work. You know very well you have to give off your absolute best to defend your title as you go out."

"When I was a little girl, I had dreams I wanted to accomplish."

Getting that taste of victory in Rio just gave me a sense of, "Hey, we can do even more." 

I was already holding the title. I knew everyone wanted it. It had put me on the edge. I had the mindset, "Okay, let them come and chase it and take it away."

In Tokyo, the plan was to try and go for the world record. Though I failed there, I was able to defend the title from Rio through my hardwork. It was resilience on my part. It was because I had always been very competitive and because I had always trained at the highest level.

"I always try to tell myself not to look at one particular competitor and pin myself against her.    I always say to myself it's an  eight lane track. There are seven other people who want the same thing I want. Someone can have the best race of their life in that one moment. 

You have to make sure you are focussing on your lane. You've to hope that you'd come out with a win. You should never be distracted by the other competitors."

"Mental preparation plays the biggest role in  sports."  

It's a lesson for life anywhere Shaunae Miller-Uibo conveys here.

Source.
Times of India  16 October 2026

YOU WILL GO MILES AND MILES

I manage the finacial operations of a stand alone educational institution. As our fund position is constricted, it's always a struggle to make both ends meet.

It was at this juncture, our Bank Manager requested  us to open a Recurring Deposit (RD) account with them for a period of one year.  She said we could thus plan ahead towards meeting our commitments. She assured the monthly remittance would be debited from our account for credit of the RD account, provided we gave them a standing instruction.

We followed her suggestion.

We had opened the account on 1st October. We had set the 1st of every month as the date of remittance to the RD account. We opted for the date as it was the day where the account would have some balance in it.

When we checked on 2nd November, the 1st being a holiday, we discovered to our horror, the bank had debited the instalment due four times instead of a single debit. And we had little left in our operating account

I phoned the Manager and explained our predicament. 

The excess instalments debited were at once refunded.

Let me place here the interaction afterwards.

Message to the Manager.

"Thank you for arranging the refund."

Manager's response.

"Sorry for the inconvenience"

I replied.

"Accepted.

These things do occur. You can't help it.

Where it goes wrong is the reluctance to admit the error.

Human tendency is you try to load it as the complainant's error or fault.

You differ

That makes you a rarity.

Keep it up.

You have miles to go

You'll go up miles and miles."

Thank you for arranging the refund of Rs. 60000.00

Sorry for the inconvenience 

Accepted.

These things do occur. You can't help it.

Where it goes wrong is the reluctance to admit the error.

Human tendency is you try to load it as the complainant's error or fault.

You differ

That makes you a rarity.

Keep it up.

You have miles to go

You'll go up miles and miles

How people suffer

 

How people suffer

The sexton at CSI Christ Church, Trivandrum lost his father, an auto driver, 9 months ago.

The auto is still at home.

The sexton who is licenced takes it out at night 

He lost his mother a few days ago.

What happened was, the father had been hospitalised three times earlier. But he came back to normalcy each time.

However he succumbed when he was hospitalised the fourth time.

Sexton's mother had thought her husband would come back as he had done three times. When her hopes were belied the fourth time, she was depressed. It led to memory loss. And she passed away.

While his mother was in the hospital in a critical condition, his wife's brother in law, 46, suffered a massive heart attack and died. The funeral took place in the Pentecostal Cemetery at Tiruvalla. The deceased, a graphic designer, left his unemployed wife and two very young daughters behind. They are at present with the wife's parents who are members of the CSI Church Muttambalam, Kottayam

The suffering disturbs.

MARRIAGE WORKS

 

You step into a marriage when you find a gap in your life in the form of a partner.

Marriage happens when you realise that a partner alone can fill that gaping gap.

For a marriage to work, the partners must be cognizant of each other's greatest and the worst features, that includes their fits of anger, stubbornness, affection, dejection and vainglorious ego, in a short time.

It helps them secure a sense of peace, more than anything else.

You find love

You can see the marriage works

ADAM & EVE - Jeffrey Archer writes to his readers

 "After fifty years of story telling, I have decided the time has come to write my final novel.

Adam & Eve has now proved to be my most satisfying writing endeavour and I can only hope you will feel the same way.

Please allow me end by thanking all my readers from around the world in 119 countries.

It has allowed this simple story teller the privilege of spending so many hours in your company.

I should have been Prime Minister, Captain of the England Cricket team or won an Olympic Gold for the Hundred metres, but then we can all dream.

As Marcel Proust reminded us:

'We always end up doing the thing we're second best at'

I can only hope that you've discovered what you're second best at.

Farewell and thank you

Jeffrey Archer"

Excerpts from the forward in Adam & Eve by the author 

HARRY KANE - Ballon D'Or, 2026 - Men's Football

 It's about the journey.

Work hard when nobody is watching.

I wasn't the kid who went straight to the top.

I had to experience the downs.

I had to find my way

To be the very best right now.

ALEXIA PUTELLAS - Ballon d'Or Feminin 2026 - Women's Football

 Don't listen to those who tell you no. 

Just do it.

If you have a dream, pursue it, even if you have to start from Zero. 

The most important thing is to do it with love and passion