New Delhi, Apr 4: The two-time Olympian pistol shooter Rahi Sarnobat, who has made a comeback to the sport at the National Games this year in Dehradun after a serious health battle, opened up on her recent battle with neuropathic pain syndrome and how now she is focusing on her Olympic medal dream.

The 34-year-old won the gold medal in the women's 25m air pistol competition at the National Games.

Rahi's health issues began in 2022 when the Maharashtra shooter was packing for the national camp for the World Championships. She found herself facing hot flashes and nerve pain. After weeks of feeling sensations all over her body, causing her tremendous pain, Rahi found herself being on bed rest, unable to find a diagnosis.

"We did not know which doctors to go - we did ECG, cardio testing, routine tests - but everything was fine. Still, I was feeling terrible. I started feeling my neck pain, that I could not lie on bed and I had to sit and sleep for months. My medical team suggested consulting a neurologist," Rahi revealed on the House of Glory podcast.

After weeks of neurological testing, Rahi was diagnosed with neuropathic pain. Giving more details about her symptoms, the pistol shooter said, "Neuropathic pain syndrome has no fixed pattern and no fixed line of treatment. It depends on case-to-case and the medical history of every person. It makes it even more scary.

"I was sleeping for 17-20 hours for months. I was just staring at the ceiling for months. I could not live my normal life. I felt the fear about being uncertain. You don't know when the incident just happened for certain months," she added.

This was not the first time Rahi had to make a comeback to the sport in her career. Earlier, in 2014 she suffered a freak hairline fracture in the elbow of her shooting arm that took seven months to recover from and many more to begin shooting.

She made her comeback from there, going on to win gold in the 2018 Asian Games and compete in her second Olympics in Tokyo in 2021. Now, this time, after making a comeback, she went on to win a close battle against her fellow shooter Simranpreet Kaur to claim the top prize at the National Games.

But emerging out of both setbacks was different, Rahi explained, "I feel comebacks are quite a personal journey. During the Rio Olympics cycle, it was a different journey. It was a common injury, and had to undergo a certain routine line of treatment. You have a structure. There is a fixed procedure, proven and tested on athletes for years."

"This time it was a different condition. I was not even looking for a comeback. I was just looking to come back to life. I was just looking forward to lead a normal, healthy life," she said.

The return to fitness was also not an easy journey. "After a few months, neurologist told me that I need to start physiotherapy despite the pain. My first exercise was sitting for 20 minutes and watching an episode of a TV show. I was even unable to do so due to immense fatigue. The physiotherapist worked with me several hours a day."

But the battle to recovery has taught Rahi many lessons. She believes she is a different athlete now with a clear focus. Now, the shooter is competing for herself and for her peers.

"Now, I am a different athlete. I do not think I could go to such a deep emotionally destructive phase as I was during this pain. It was the most depressing and challenging phase. Shooting was not even in my list of things to do. I prayed for this and now I am living it," she said.

"Now that I have started shooting again, my goal is to focus on myself and my team, who have been there for me. I know I have many abilities, capabilities, capacities that are yet to be explored. This dream has been planted in my system for a reason. It is worth to give a chance to myself again. This is not about proving it to the world. I am more courageous as there is nothing to lose. I want to be remembered as a person who made things happen," she signed off.

(IANS)

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