Paris, France, August 4, 2024: Lakshya Sen, the first-ever Indian male badminton player to reach the semi-finals of an Olympic Games, has a secret weapon in Paris – his mother’s cooking.
As he prepares for the biggest match of his life on Sunday, August 4 – the Olympic semi-final against world number two Viktor Axelsen of Denmark – Lakshya has his entire family camped at an apartment close to the badminton arena, with home-cooked meals and smoothies dispatched to him every day.
The Indian Express revealed the secret sauce for Lakshya was his mum Nirmala’s cooking. She had travelled with him for close to a month prior to the Olympics along with father Dhirendra Kumar and brother Chirag.
Lakshya’s staple lunch is a mildly spiced chicken soup made by Nirmala in coordination with the player’s nutritionist.
His mum’s presence, be it at Marseilles for a fortnight before the Olympics, or now during the men’s singles competition in Paris, has ensured that Lakshya, 22, gets the same customised meals he ate back home in Bengaluru.
A training day in Bengaluru typically sees him eat 6-7 moderate meals a day. “Lunch is noodle soup, chicken and vegetables cooked in stock. Sometimes it is chicken steak and sometimes pasta with chicken. My nutritionist, my mother and I work together,” Laksyha told the Indian Express.
His coach Vimal Kumar added: “We have ensured that his mother is close by so that he feels comfortable.”
