Caesar all set for bow

Syque Caesar

Syque Caesar really wants to meet Usain Bolt. He also wants to meet Michael Phelps and although he has already seen the great man in passing, he would like the time to properly get introduced to the swimmer and perhaps indulge in the commonplace Olympic hobby of badge swapping.
For now though, Syque is focused solely on Saturday where he aims to hit perfectly the gymnastic routines that he has practiced over the course of this year.
“As of right now, I'm just concentrating on my gymnastics, once I'm done I'll go and try to meet as many people as I can,” he told The Daily Star on Friday.
But concentrating has not been easy. This, after all, is the Olympics.
“I've been trying to approach this competition as I would for any other competition except that I definitely have to try a lot harder mentally to not get distracted by all of the cameras, noises, and even images of the Olympic rings everywhere,” admits Syque.
Life at the village too is surreal perhaps because of the buzz around it.
“There is definitely a huge Olympic spirit in the village which is nice. But I'm trying to keep the nervousness down to a minimum. My excitement level is probably higher than my level of nervousness,” says Syque.
A recent bicep injury has put a dent into Syque's preparations for the Olympics and the University of Michigan gymnast admitted that it has led to some changes.
“I've had to drop still rings and pommel horse for the time being,” he says before adding quickly that he is still practicing in the other events on full difficulty.
“I've been very diligent with doing a lot of treatment on my bicep and keeping it's feeling as good as it can. As of right now, it feels great,” says Syque, allaying any fears that many might have harbored.
Intriguingly, Syque will come up against his college roommate Sam Mikulak, who will be turning out for the US national team, but perhaps that will give an altogether more homely feeling to the competition.
“I've been training and competing with and against Sam for two years already. I'll be cheering Sam on as he competes and I'm sure he'll be cheering me on as I compete, just like a typical collegiate competition,” says Syque.
In the last week, much has been made of Bangladesh being the most populous country to have never won a medal of any colour in the Olympics. In truth, our record is even more abysmal, failing to even qualify for any sport previously.
Syque Caesar will almost certainly not correct that statistic. In truth, he is but a wild card entry dreaming of glory. But, then again,
there are too many underdog stories of men who have made their names in the Olympics. For that reason alone, the country, if even for a little while, will hold its collective breath on Saturday.