Women Athletes At The Forefront Of adidas' 'Impossible Is Nothing' Campaign Chapter 3

"Where there is a will, there's a way." This proverb sits perfectly with Indian women athletes, who have been making a splash in the field of sports, despite facing several obstacles. The year 2021 saw Indian women athletes leading the way as the contingent returned from Tokyo with its best ever showing in an Olympic Games. adidas aims to create new possibilities for women with its biggest ever commitment to innovation, athletes and future generations. This time through inspiring the next generation of women athletes to continue to push boundaries and strive for change, by investment in grassroots programs. adidas with its 'Impossible is Nothing' Campaign aims to create new possibilities for women in sports. Winners from the Tokyo Games, Lovlina Borgohain and Mirabai Chanu, were part of a special show on NDTV, along with upcoming long jump star Shaili Singh and adidas' Aparna Wahi, to talk about women athletes achieving global success despite several odds and proving that "impossible is nothing" for these sportswomen.

Mirabai Chanu, who won a silver medal in the women's 49kg weightlifting event at the Tokyo Olympics, spoke about why she took to the sport and how she took help from truck drivers to reach her training facility.

"I did not get into weightlifting to prove anything to anybody. I did it to help myself, the sport and my family grow. Impossible is nothing is a very important philosophy for us. It means we can achieve almost anything that we want to. 

"In any case I never gave up. I used to travel around 25 kilometres for my training. Since there were no buses or taxis from my house to the training centre early in the morning, I used to ask for help from the trucks which plied on the road in front of my house from 4 in the morning. These truck drivers used to drop me to my training centre every day and that is the reason why I could train well," said Mirabai, who is also a World Championships and Commonwealth Games gold medallist.

Lovlina Borgohain, who became only the second Indian woman boxer after the legendary Mary Kom to win an Olympic medal, also spoke about her difficult journey to success.

"I had started with martial arts but I knew about the sport of boxing. Sports wasn't as developed in the north-east at the time when I had taken it up. There were no facilities or infrastructure. I started in 2012 and there was no facility for boxing. 

"I had joined the sport with the dream of becoming an Olympian. It was difficult initially to stay away from home. I was told to train for 3-4 years and participate in the Olympics and come back home. Even I used to think of doing that.

"But slowly I learnt that it was possible to make a career in sports. I used to train all day and believed that anything is possible because to come out of a small village and reach where I did was also thought to be impossible. I continue to believe anything is possible and look at things positively," Borgohain, who won a bronze in Tokyo, said.

Shaili Singh, a promising long jumper, who won a silver medal at the U20 World Championships last year, also spoke about the obstacles she has faced. Shaili, who trains with Indian long jump great Anju Bobby George, spoke about the sacrifices she and her mother made for her to attain success in sports.

 "There were problems early in life. My mother was finding it difficult to run the house. She learnt tailoring to support the family and even my uncle chipped in with some help. When I showed interest in sports, it was initially difficult to afford shoes, so I used to run barefoot. 

"But my mother gave me the strength in that phase. She used to tell me that I will have my shoes some day and even now she is my biggest source of inspiration," Shaili said.

German Sportswear giant adidas has been supporting these athletes for several years now and helping them achieve their dreams.

"At adidas 'Impossible is Nothing' is an attitude. It is something that we live by and we believe in. I right now is the time. There are three amazing athletes sitting next to us and there couldn't be better time to speak about them. Through their own stories we can see that they have created possibilities for themselves. 

"Their inspiring stories is what will drive change in the society. Sports is our past , present and future and we really believe women are at the fore front of it currently," Aparna Wahi, Director, Business Development, at adidas said while talking about the "Impossible is Nothing" campaign.