Rahi won the gold in 25m pistol.
| Photo Credit: RITU RAJ KONWAR
In 2022, just as she got ready to leave home to catch a flight for the World Championship, shooter Rahi Sarnobat felt very uneasy. There was a tingling feeling in her right hand and she felt something was wrong in her heart too.
“I was at the door and suddenly I thought I was going to die. My heart rate was very high and I felt my heart flushing,” Olympian Rahi, the first Indian woman to win an individual Asian Games shooting gold (at Jakarta 2018), told The Hindu after winning the 25m pistol gold at the 38th National Games here on Sunday. The 34-year-old from Maharashtra beat Punjab’s young international Simranpreet Kaur Brar 35-34 in a tight final at the Trishul Range with Karnataka’s T.S. Vidya (27) taking the bronze.
But shooting was far from Rahi’s mind when she felt that strange sensation some two-and-a-half years ago. Her frightened family rushed her to a hospital.
“I did ECG, Echo and all the heart-related tests. They were absolutely fine, but the neuro pain was bad,” said Rahi who competed in the 2012 London and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. After consulting a neurologist, she was told it was neuropathic pain.
“There is no reason why that happened, there is no medication for it, there is no treatment as such. My neurologist said it could be because of Covid. And that it could take 10 months, or in some cases, 10 years to recover.
“I think I had a goal to come out of it and shoot again, that’s why mentally I was pretty much strong and that’s why I got out of it within a year.”
There are young shooters like Manu Bhaker, who won two bronze medals in the Paris Olympics and finished fourth in the 25m pistol event, who has set the bar high and on her return, Rahi feels that with her vast experience – she is completing 20 years in the sport this year – she can come back strong and fight for a place in the 2028 LA Olympics.
On her tight title fight, Rahi said, “I really enjoy if it’s close then you really push yourself, I think I need that.”
Meanwhile, Asian Games medallist Ashi Chouksey topped the women’s three-position qualification round with 598 points which was better than the World record of 596.
Published – February 02, 2025 05:20 pm IST