Became stronger mentally after injury, says Vinesh Phogat

Bengaluru: She remembers it like it was just yesterday. The brutal side of sport, often overlooked in the public’s sentiments leaving the athlete in frustration, was on display that day when Vinesh Phogat twisted her knee awkwardly in the quarter-final bout at the Rio Olympics.

The Indian wrestler, hailing from the renowned Phogat-clan, was trailing 1-2 against China’s Sun Yanan in the first quarter when her attempt to get out of her opponent’s grasp ended in disaster.

There was only one thought in her mind then. “’Everything is over.’ That was my thought,” remembers Vinesh.

“I tried to get up, tried to shake it off, and get back. I could move my back but my leg wasn’t moving. I remember the coach came and asked me to get up and all I could do was wave with my hands that I can’t. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t move my legs,” she said in a candid interview.

“All I wanted was to somehow get back and wrestle. I was telling them to give me painkillers so that I can get back. How can someone win like that? I was just saying ‘I want to wrestle’ for the next couple of hours while crying,” said Vinesh with a rueful smile.

The 22-year-old niece of legendary coach Mahavir Phogat, was one of the medal hopes for the country and there is little doubt that Vinesh expected the same of herself going into the world’ biggest sporting spectacle.

“There is always that butterflies in your stomach when you are at such a big event. On that day, there was no such thing for me.  At the time I was thinking ‘this is my day and no one can take it away from me.’ The whole country, and world, was watching and I wanted to show my mettle. That was what I wanted to do.

“Maybe my focus went a lot into medals, the luck was also not on my side, unfortunately,” she continued.

“Who knows what could have happened. Whole of India wanted the gold. I wanted the gold. There are still a lot of questions in my mind that are unanswered. Maybe I’ll find them in time,” reveals the wrestler.

Long road to recovery
A troubling ordeal for any sportsperson, much less for one as young as the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, it’s been a long road to recovery.

“I’m still recovering. This, now, is probably the toughest times of my life. I always had this fear of surgery. I used to pray saying ‘please don’t give me serious injuries, you can reduce three or four medals from my career’. I was worried that after surgery I wouldn’t be able to wrestle,” remarked Vinesh, a smile slowly making its way after the heavy topic of conversation.

“I’m out of that situation now and I have, in my heart, the belief now that you always come back strong after injury.  And I want to prove that and show all the youngsters who have similar fears to mine that there is no need to worry.

“Now, I want to come back better than before. I have heard, and felt so far as well, that it’s difficult to come back after an injury. The mat on which I have been in constant touch for 15 years, I’ve been away from it for four months now. I feel a bit like I have to re-learn to wrestle. So far, my movements are all normal as before. I feel like I will come back better,” she concluded her thoughts, the smile now beaming and giving quantifiable account of her affable personality.

And if her past is any proof of her credentials, there is little doubt she will too.

Now, training hard with her eyes on the Asian championships in May, Vinesh has big plans ahead.

“After the injury I feel I have become stronger mentally. The aim is to try and do my best and win medals for the country. Also to do something which can help wrestling in the country, particularly women’s, go forward in the future,” she signed off.