Sweat, Strength And Broken Bones

Two years after her injury at the Rio Olympics,Vinesh Phogatis in similar territory. Shell sit out the World Championships where she was favoured to win gold. This time, though, the anguish is a lot more, but it is tempered with a lot more understanding of her situation.

- Uthra Ganesan

Two years after her injury at the Rio Olympics, Vinesh Phogat is in similar territory. She’ll sit out the World Championships where she was favoured to win gold. This time, though, the anguish is a lot more, but it is tempered with a lot more understanding of her situation.

It takes an entire day to get her to agree to speak to me. She has not met anyone outside her small group of wrestlers for the last few days, refused all requests for a single quote, not stepped out of her room unless it’s absolutely necessary and doesn’t answer phone calls if they are not from her family or close friends. The Elite Sportspersons’ hostel at the Sports Authority of India Centre in Lucknow is a secure haven that has kept her away from all she wants to avoid — both people and things.

A freak injury during training has meant Vinesh Phogat, who was the favourite for a gold medal, no less, at the Wrestling World Championships at the end of October, has been ruled out of action for the next two months at the very least. It is a major blow to the 24­year­old’s hopes of ending the year where she started it — atop the podium. Given her form in the run­up to the competition, including a comprehensive win at the Asian Games, the frustration is understandable.

It is not easy being Vinesh Phogat. She has struggled for years to emerge from the shadows of her more­fancied cousins, Geeta and Babita. She has done it, but struggled with injuries. The spotlight on the biggest stage for a wrestler was snatched from her just as she was preparing to bask in it — the Rio Olympics will be remembered, she admits, for what could have been till she twisted her knee during her quarterfinal bout.