If I can maintain my fitness, I hope to play LA Olympics: Manpreet Singh
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