In the 1930s, there was a man in the Hungarian army who was determined to be the best pistol shooter in the world. He practiced very hard and by 1936 he was not only Hungary’s best but a world class shooter. His name was Karoly Takacs. Karoly’s dream was to win the Olympic Gold medal as that is the highest honour a shooter can get. Unfortunately, he was denied a place in the Hungarian team as he was a sergeant. In those days in Hungry only commissioned officers were allowed to compete.
This didn’t deter Karoly from continuing his practice. And after the 1936 Berlin games Hungry removed this rule. The expectation that Karoly would compete and do very well in the 1940 Olympics scheduled in Tokyo was very high. During an army training
event in 1938 a faulty grenade exploded in Karoly’s right hand and his shooting hand was very badly injured. While is hospital he received a lot of sympathy from army colleagues and fellow shooters.
Most people in Karoly’s position would have perhaps wallowed in self-pity and blamed the world for his misfortune. But not Karoly.
He was determined to not give up on his dream of becoming the best shooter.
For the next one year, in secret, he taught himself to shoot with his left hand. His weak hand.
He practiced long hours and practiced very hard. During the 1939 Hungarian Shooting competition, which would determine who represents Hungary in the rapid fire pistol event, to the disbelief of everyone Karoly landed up.
His fellow shooters were initially very moved as they thought that despite his tragedy he had come to cheer them on. But he shocked them when he said “No, I have come to compete with you”.
Karoly won that event and was looking forward to the 1940 Olympics scheduled to be held at Tokyo. Due to the second world war which started in late 1939 the venue was first shifted to Helsinki and then cancelled.
That was the second setback for Karoly. Yet again, he didn’t give up. He now set his eyes on the 1944 Olympics scheduled to be held in London. But the war was still on and that Olympics was again cancelled.
This was Karoly’s third setback. But even this didn’t deter him. He didn’t say that the universe is conspiring against me or that life was unfair. He continued his practice and now set his eyes on the 1948 Olympics scheduled again in London.
People in India would remember that it was this Olympic that India won its first gold medal, in hockey. This time Karoly’s dream came true and he won the gold medal, with his left hand, supposedly his weaker hand, 10 years after he taught his left hand to be best shooting hand in the world.
But even this achievement didn’t stop him. He now set his sight on the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. He continued his practice and he went on to win that event and become the first shooter in history to win two consecutive gold medals.
What a motivational story!
Business Points ( Tags )
#storytelling #business #bestseller #stories #storiesatwork #persistence #perserverance #resilience #hardwork #freewill #everydaylearning
