Two-time Olympian Rahi Sarnobat has scripted a stirring chapter in her shooting career with a golden comeback at the 2024 National Games in Dehradun.
The 34-year-old pistol shooter, who has long been one of India’s leading lights in shooting, returned to competitive action in style—clinching gold in the Women’s 25m air pistol event after enduring a harrowing health crisis that nearly ended her career.
Speaking on the House of Glory podcast—an initiative by the Gagan Narang Sports Foundation—Rahi opened up about her recent battle with neuropathic pain syndrome, a mysterious and excruciating condition that left her bedridden and stripped of any sense of normalcy for months.
Her ordeal began in 2022, just as she was preparing to leave for the national camp ahead of the World Championships. “We did not know which doctors to go (to)—we did ECG, cardio testing, routine tests—but everything was fine. Still, I was feeling terrible,” she recalled.
“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 to consult (a) neurologist.”
Eventually, after multiple tests and agonizing uncertainty, she was diagnosed with neuropathic pain. "Neuropathic pain syndrome has no fixed pattern and no fixed line of treatment. It depends on case-to-case, and medical history of every person. It makes it even more scary," Rahi explained.
The symptoms were relentless. "I was sleeping for 17-20 hours for months. I was just staring at 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 shared.
This wasn't the first time Rahi had faced adversity. In 2014, she sustained a hairline fracture in the elbow of her shooting arm—a freak injury that kept her out of action for over seven months. She rebounded from that, going on to win gold at the 2018 Asian Games and representing India at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
But this latest journey, she says, was different.
"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," she said.
"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 added.
Even the return to basic fitness was grueling. “After a few months, (the) 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.”
Her gold medal win at the National Games—where she edged past Simranpreet Kaur in a thrilling finish—was more than just a sporting victory. It was a triumph over fear, despair, and uncertainty.
"Now, I am a different athlete. I do not think I could go to such (a) deep emotional destructive phase than 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," Rahi said.
With renewed purpose and clarity, she now competes for herself—and the people who stood by her.
"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, capacity which 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 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.
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