"Every winning streak will have to end sometime"
About this Quote
In the mouth of Jahangir Khan, a man who treated “losing” like a foreign language during squash’s most punishing era, this line isn’t fatalism; it’s discipline. Khan’s career is synonymous with an absurd statistic: a record unbeaten run that made opponents look like walk-ons in his personal epic. So when he says every streak ends, he’s not warning fans to temper expectations. He’s inoculating himself against the most corrosive side effect of dominance: the belief that you’re entitled to permanence.
The intent is practical, almost austere. Athletes on historic runs get trapped by the mythology built around them. The streak stops being evidence of preparation and becomes a fragile identity to protect. Khan’s phrasing quietly refuses that trap. “Will have to” carries the cold logic of physics: bodies wear down, rivals adapt, luck swings, attention fractures. It’s not if, it’s the cost of playing in real time, against real people.
The subtext is even sharper: if you’re serious, you train like the ending is already scheduled. That mindset drains drama from the inevitable loss and returns control to the only place an athlete can actually live - routine, process, recovery. Coming from a Pakistani champion who carried national expectation and a sport’s visibility on his shoulders, it also reads as humility with teeth. Not false modesty, but a refusal to let adoration turn into delusion.
Contextually, it’s a reminder that greatness isn’t the streak. Greatness is how you behave when the streak stops being your shield.
The intent is practical, almost austere. Athletes on historic runs get trapped by the mythology built around them. The streak stops being evidence of preparation and becomes a fragile identity to protect. Khan’s phrasing quietly refuses that trap. “Will have to” carries the cold logic of physics: bodies wear down, rivals adapt, luck swings, attention fractures. It’s not if, it’s the cost of playing in real time, against real people.
The subtext is even sharper: if you’re serious, you train like the ending is already scheduled. That mindset drains drama from the inevitable loss and returns control to the only place an athlete can actually live - routine, process, recovery. Coming from a Pakistani champion who carried national expectation and a sport’s visibility on his shoulders, it also reads as humility with teeth. Not false modesty, but a refusal to let adoration turn into delusion.
Contextually, it’s a reminder that greatness isn’t the streak. Greatness is how you behave when the streak stops being your shield.
Quote Details
| Topic | Defeat |
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