Vikas Krishan training in middle of the night as he sets his eye on gold at Rio
Indian pugilist Vikas Krishan has revealed the arduous training regime he is under, after switching his focus from silver to gold for the upcoming Rio Olympics. The 24-year-old wakes up to practice in the middle of the night so that his biological clock can adjust to the time difference at Rio.
"It's about getting adjusted to the time schedule there.
“I train at different, and sometimes unearthly hours of the day.
"The focus is only on training now. But I make sure to sleep about 12-13 hours a day. Diet is mostly liquid," Vikas Krishan told PTI.
The 2011 World Championships bronze-medallist, who had earlier announced his intention to win a bronze at Rio, is now more confident of his ability, and said that he will be aiming for the gold medal at the Games.
"I've been competing in this weight category for about four years now and have beaten many top boxers.
"I've seen it all. I've gone through the grind and value the importance of hard work. Such has been my preparation that now I am confident of beating all the 27 boxers in my weight category. So I will fight for gold," the World No.6 said.
Vikas Krishan, who had earlier revealed that this will be his last Olympics, has said that he is training with different weight categories in order to improve different aspects of his boxing.
"Sometime to test my speed, I train with a lightweight category boxers and for power I prefer a heavier opponent in training," Vikas added.
The Indian athletes have come under the scanner recently after wrestler Narsingh Yadav and shotput athlete Inderjeet Singh tested positive for banned substances. However, Vikas Krishan is confident that the Indian boxers will not be affected by this.
"Whatever medication we're taking is under the supervision of the SAI doctor. We all are watchful and ensuring that the boxers are not affected," he said, reported PTI.