Vinesh Phogat on the mend

Vinayak Padmadeo

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 1

India’s best female wrestler Vinesh Phogat had a harrowing 2021, when she went from a sure-shot medal hopeful at the Olympic Games to getting treated as a pariah by officials after returning empty-handed from Tokyo.

Hurting as she was from the disappointment of failing to be at her best in Tokyo — where she was the top seed in the 53kg category — the 27-year-old then dropped a bombshell when she disclosed that she was suffering from depression in the months leading to the Olympics. This and a few other factors ultimately led to her blackout in the midst of her quarterfinal bout and she lost to Belarusian Vanesa Kaladzinskaya by fall.

The loss added noise to the debate over her preparations for the Olympics — she had trained with her coach Woller Akos in Budapest — and she was threatened with a lengthy ban by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for wearing non-certified singlet in her quarterfinal loss. She was, in fact, handed a temporary ban which was lifted in the last week of August.

Then, in September, Vinesh pulled out from her second round trial bout that was conducted to pick up India’s representative for the World Championships, saying she was unwell. Days later she underwent surgery on her right elbow. Now fully recovered, the 27-year-old is slowly taking steps to full fitness.

“I am doing well, thank you!” she said, discussing her roadmap out of her physical and mental travails.

“I had to get surgery as there were three loose pieces in my elbow that had been troubling me long before Tokyo. The doctors said surgery was the only way forward and since we had time we went for it,” Vinesh said. “I have started mat work but I am not giving 100 per cent as I have been advised to go easy. I think in about a month’s time, I will be ready for full training.”

The 2019 World Championships bronze medallist and the reigning Asian Games gold medallist was very careful in answering the queries since she wants to avoid making any controversial statement, one that could put her in the doghouse once again. However, she was open enough to confess that she is still taking professional help from a psychologist to deal with her mental health issues.

“It is not easy to talk to people about these issues. Not only elite athletes, even normal persons will find it tough to open up to a new person. The fear is that if you open up, generally it is taken as you are weak. It is mostly taken in a negative sense,” Vinesh said of her troubles.

“In my case it was easier as I was told way back in 2017 — when I suffered a concussion — that something like this will happen as a side effect. But even then no one can predict to what extent or in what form will the symptoms hit. I have coped well with all of this so I am hoping to get back to wrestling soon,” said the Bhiwani girl.

‘God’s will’

As she pieces her professional life together again after the 2021 debacles — the Mario Pellicone Ranking Series in Rome could be her first competition of the year next month — Vinesh is mindful of the fact that there is one big medal missing from her trophy cabinet.

“There is a lot left in me. I know that but this is sports and sometimes the mind and the heart are not on the same wavelength on how to further your career. All I know is that I do not want to finish with a sigh, thinking: ‘If only I won that medal, or if I had done this better in a bout to win’,” Vinesh said when asked about what she desires to get in her career.

“The ‘if only’ feeling would be the worst way for me to finish. God willing, I am trying hard to make a comeback and win a few more medals. Till then I will do what I know best — work hard and leave it all on God’s will,” she added.

But one thing is sure, Vinesh is happy to see the back of the year 2021, a thought well explained in her tweets on the last day of her most challenging year in sport.

“2021 is over and it has been a tough year. For me, it has been the most difficult year of my life. I started it off in the best possible manner, worked hard, trained harder, but didn’t get the result I was hoping for. Things didn’t work out for me on the biggest stage, but I guess that’s life and I will always cherish the bittersweet memories that this year brought and value all the people who have egged me on with their positive energy,” Vinesh wrote on social media on Friday.

“As we ready to enter 2022, I am full of hope and optimism. I have always been the happiest on the mat and I can’t wait to get out there again and begin another amazing journey, chasing my dreams, and work towards making my country, my sport, and my family proud again!” she added.