Károly Takács and the Winner’s Mindset

The next time you watch your favourite sport on TV, or read about the stars of the game, it might be a
good idea to participate in a little sport yourself. Try this. Get inside the minds of the sportsmen. Get
into their shoes. Take a peek inside the psyches of all those sporting heroes. The record breakers as
well as the favourites who lose out. Also the person who drops a catch or misses a penalty. And the
sportsman who perhaps missed out due to an unfortunate injury, and is watching the game on TV at
home. Think of what must be going through their minds. This could be a fascinating game.
Sport is a terrific metaphor for life, and there are several sporting stories that inspire and motivate
us. But perhaps none more so than the tale of Károly Takács. You may not have heard of him, but his
life story is worth a listen.


Károly was a sergeant in the Hungarian army. In 1938, the twenty-eight-year-old was the country’s
top pistol shooter, having won most major national and international championships. He was—by a
mile—the favourite to win gold at the 1940 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Then, disaster struck.

At an army training session, a hand grenade accidentally exploded in Károly’s hand. And blew it
away. His shooting hand. Not only did his entire Olympic dream crash, he also lost a limb.

‘Why me?’ Károly could have been excused for asking the question most of us would have asked.
You would understand it too if he wallowed in self-pity, an understandable reaction for someone
after such a tragic turn of events. You would sympathize with him if he were to become a recluse, a
living example of how fate can devastate the best-laid plans.

Oh no, not Károly. He was made of sterner stuff.

Instead of focusing on what he had lost—his right hand, his potentially gold medal-winning
shooting hand—he chose to focus on what he still had. He had mental strength, the mindset of a
winner, the determination to succeed and yes, a healthy left hand. A left hand which, he thought, he
could train and transform into the world’s best shooting hand.

After a month in hospital, Károly went out and, away from the glare of the world, began practising
to shoot with his left hand. Despite the pain his body still reeled under, despite the strain the left hand
had to undergo to also do all that the right hand had earlier done, he stayed focused on his goal: to
make his left hand the best shooting hand in the world.

One year later, Károly resurfaced at the national shooting championship in Hungary. His colleagues
were delighted to see him. They complimented him on his courage, and his fabulous gesture of coming

over to see them shoot. But they were taken aback when Károly told them that he wasn’t there to see
them shoot; he was there to compete with them.

And compete he did. In fact, Károly won the championship. Just one year after losing his right
hand. He won with his left hand.

Károly’s decision to practise quietly, away from scrutiny, was significant. It is easy for people to
ridicule you for dreaming big. It is also very easy for you to stay afloat in your misery for a sympathy
wave laps at you from all over.

Unfortunately for Károly, his Olympic dream remained unrealized for a while, as two successive
Games were cancelled due to the world war.

In 1948, the Olympics came to London. Károly was chosen to represent Hungary in the pistol
shooting event. And he won gold. Shooting with his left hand.

Imagine being a gold medal favourite, losing your shooting hand in an accident, yet picking yourself
up from the shattered mess, training your left hand to shoot as well or better, and going on to win the
Olympic gold.

Four years later. Helsinki Olympics. Pistol shooting event. Who won gold? No surprises here.
Károly Takács.

That is the stuff champions are made of.
We all have moments in our lives when we seem so close to glory but suddenly lose everything.
When it seems that the world is conspiring to destroy us. Our dreams get shattered. We feel
vanquished. Crushed. Beaten. Defeated. And we cry aloud, ‘Why me?’
When that happens, think of Károly. In fact, think like him. Don’t worry about what you’ve lost.
Focus on what you still have. Your inner strength. Your mental toughness. No one can take these
away.

Don’t lose yourself to self-pity. Pick yourself up quickly. Momentum is key. Károly was back on
the practice range a month after the accident. When you are down, think like a boxer: if you are
knocked down, you need to stand up in ten seconds or less. One extra second, and it’s all over.
Set yourself a goal and focus on achieving it. A goal helps channelize the mind and body to work
on what needs to be achieved, rather than looking back and worrying about past losses, about what
might have been. When your mind is flooded with negative thoughts, it’s not easy to wish them away.
You need a positive thought—a goal—to replace and banish negative thoughts.

Winning a gold medal in pistol shooting is less about the hand, more about the mind. Life’s like
that. Winning is less about skills, more about attitude. Skills can be acquired, as Károly demonstrated
with his left hand.

When you watch the next game of cricket or football, when you see the winners there, remember to
win something for yourself too.


Remember the Károly Takács mindset. The winner’s mindset!