He will be on the wrong side of 30s and maintaining fitness would be no stroll in the park but veteran Indian hockey mid-fielder Manpreet Singh foresees an unprecedented fifth Olympic appearance for himself in the 2028 Los Angeles Games before he calls time on his career.
The 32-year-old is a two-time Olympic medallist. He captained the side that ended a 41-year-old Olympic medal drought in Tokyo 2020, before remaining a part of the squad under Harmanpreet Singh for an encore in Paris 2024.
"My target is till Los Angeles but it all depends upon my fitness. If I can maintain my fitness and game, I will surely be there in LA," the ace mid-fielder told PTI in an exclusive interview.
"In today's hockey fitness is very important so at the end everything will boil down to my fitness," added the player, who has rarely faced any fitness issues in his career.
Former greats Udham Singh, Leslie Claudius, and Dhanraj Pillai along with Manpreet's recently-retired contemporary P R Sreejesh also have four Olympic appearances to their credit.
And Manpreet, a veteran of 378 international games and 44 goals, is now aiming to go one better on them by making the cut for LA 2028. The easy-going player, who hails from Mithapur village in Punjab, is grateful for all that he has achieved with the team.
"Winning back-to-back medals is a something wonderful for me. It was after a long time that we won back-to-back medals and every athlete aspires to win an Olympic medal.
"I have played four Olympics. In the first two, I didn't get any medal but in the last two, I won medals and you can't imagine my happiness," he said.
A multi-faceted player, Manpreet can play in a defensive position as well when the team needs.
His skills came in handy in India's 4-2 penalty shootout win over Britain in the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics despite being down to 10 men with 42 minutes remaining in the match.
"I am always prepared to play in every scenario. I always adjust to every position which the team demands. When (Amit) Rohidas got the red card, I immediately realised that I had to play in the defence.
"I have trained a lot for that, even in Pro League matches. So, it was not very difficult for me. I knew my roles and responsibilities, I just had to execute my plans," Manpreet said.
The show against Britain tested the Indian team's mental toughness and Manpreet credited a short three-day camp at renowned adventurer Mike Horn's base in Switzerland before the Olympics for that.
"That camp was very useful for us. It changed our mindset and taught us to be strong. When we went there, nobody knew what we were supposed to do there," he recalled.
"That camp taught us how to tackle adverse situations with a strong mentality. That camp also taught us how to be together and help each other in difficult situations." We learnt to play as a team and be united," he said.
Talking about Sreejesh, who retired at 36 after the Paris Games, Manpreet was effusive in his praise for the former teammate.
"Everyone knows how good a goalkeeper he (Sreejesh) was but it was his personal decision and it is with every athlete. But we need to look at how we need to cope with this situation.
"Krishan (Bahadur Pathak) and Suraj (Karkera) are good goalkeepers and already have the experience of playing at the highest level," he said.
Manpreet's Malaysian wife Illi Najwa Saddique and their two-and-half-year-old daughter Jasmine were there in Paris when he won his second Olympic medal and the star said it was the best moment of his life to share the joy with his family.
"After the medal ceremony, my daughter and wife were with me at the ground and my daughter was running around the ground. I had a photo of my daughter wearing the medal, it was a really proud feeling," he said.
Manpreet revealed that Jasmine, despite her tender age, seems to have developed a liking for shooting after meeting double Olympic medallist pistol shooter Manu Bhaker recently.
