How Kento Momota has overcome adversity to aim for Tokyo Olympics gold

There are a lot of lessons that failures and adversities can teach us. World No. 1 Kento Momota has had to overcome many obstacles in his life to earn the success he has achieved so far. The southpaw has learnt to take the adversities in his stride as he aims for the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics later this year.

Momota suffers accident in 2020

Just before the coronavirus pandemic took the world by storm, Kento Momota won the Malaysia Masters in January 2020. It was deemed to be a perfect preparation ahead of the Tokyo Olympics which was then supposed to be held months later.

But, on his way to the airport in Kuala Lumpur, Kento Momota’s van crashed into the back of a truck and the Japanese sustained grievous injuries.

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While the driver of the van was killed on the spot, Kento Momota suffered cuts to his face, bruises on his body and a broken right eye socket.

The Japanese had to undergo a facial surgery and one month later, Kento Momota was back on his feet. But by then, the coronavirus had started to wreak havoc on the world and lockdowns had already been announced. He waited until the end of 2020 before emerging victorious in the Japan National Championship.

COVID-19 derails Kento Momota in early 2021

There was another jolt soon after. As he was about to fly to Bangkok, Kento Momota was diagnosed with COVID-19. Although he was asymptomatic, the 26-year-old had to abort his plans and needed to be confined to his house again.

Try. Fail. Try again and nail it. This feeling is what inspires Kento Momota to push harder. #WalkingNewGrounds pic.twitter.com/dMf92DMOrt

— Yonex Sunrise Indonesia (@YonexSunriseINA) June 2, 2021

Momota survives East Japan Earthquake

Being sidetracked by adversities wasn’t alien for Kento Momota. He has been in these kinds of situations since the start of the decade. The huge East Japan Earthquake of 2011 devastated his surroundings in his adopted home of Fukushima and he had to rebuild from scratch.

Setback ahead of Rio Olympics

Ahead of the Rio Olympics in 2016, Momota suffered yet another setback. He was banned after visiting an illegal casino just when he was beginning to look like one of the biggest contenders for the gold.

Kento Momota was subsequently removed from the world rankings and it took more than a year for him to come back to play.

All these things have made the Japanese a “humbled player”, as he would put it.

The postponement of the Tokyo Games has thus given him much time to reflect on the lessons life has taught him. Grounded by all his experiences, Momota will hope to bring out his best at home and make his nation proud at the mega quadrennial Games.