Few Indian shooters have endured as many setbacks away from the range as they have celebrated successes on it, and Rahi Sarnobat is one of them.
One of India’s finest sports pistol shooters, Sarnobat’s career has been shaped as much by historic triumphs as by a debilitating health battle that once threatened to end it.
Known for her trademark composure under pressure, the Kolhapur shooter became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games shooting gold when she clinched the title in Jakarta in 2018.
But the years that followed were anything but smooth. Serious health complications after the Covid-19 pandemic left her bedridden and uncertain if she would ever return to elite competition.
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Now fully fit again and preparing for what will be her fourth Asian Games, the 35-year-old says she has finally regained the training volume she had been striving for since her illness.
“I’ve reached the quantity I wanted to reach after my health issues,” Sarnobat told PTI, describing her return as the culmination of a long and painstaking journey rather than a simple comeback.
Her career came to a standstill in mid-2022 when she was struck by neuropathic pain syndrome, a debilitating neurological condition that left her battling persistent hot flashes, tingling sensations and excruciating nerve pain across her body.
For months, she was confined to bed, physically incapable of even holding a pistol, let alone training or competing.
For Sarnobat, stepping back into competition feels less like a comeback and more like the beginning of an entirely new life.
“Competing again is a rebirth, a second life. Returning to the ranges was not even on my list. I can’t believe that I am living a normal life again because I’ve seen the kind of disability,” she said.
“And I thought that my life was going to be forever like that.” The road back was anything but straightforward. She had to rebuild her shooting almost from scratch, relearning skills that had become second nature over nearly two decades in the sport.
“My technique is different. My body is different. My thinking is different. My approach is different. My priorities are different. Now my priority is listening to my body more. It’s a rebirth, a second life,” she said.
She believes years of elite competition, where medals are often decided by fractions of a point, had conditioned her to ignore the warning signs her body was sending.
“I am listening to the signals that our body and mind give us more than ever because the amount of stress we have as competitive athletes is too much. We tend to ignore those signals because we have to perform and feel we cannot take time off.
“But eventually it puts a huge load on the nervous system and that is what happened with me. Now, not anymore.”
Rahi Sarnobat’s career came to a standstill in mid-2022 when she was struck by neuropathic pain syndrome. | Photo Credit: PTI
At 35, and with many of her rivals nearly a decade younger, Sarnobat has accepted that preparation cannot be approached the way it was in her 20s.
“I also have to consider my age. I cannot train in the same manner as I did in my 20s. This is my 22nd year in the sport. I have to consider the way I have used my body and mind over the years. They need rest as well.”
That shift in perspective has fundamentally altered both her training methods and mindset. She no longer views her pre-illness and post-illness careers as part of the same journey.
“Even as a person and a shooter, I feel this is a totally different journey after the health issues. Sometimes I cannot even relate these two phases. It’s a totally new life, a new chapter for me.”
Earlier, every training day revolved around rigid schedules and predetermined targets. Today, flexibility has become central to her routine.
“Earlier I was focused on whatever was written on paper as a schedule. I had to follow everything exactly. Now I have adapted flexibility according to my situation and my health.” The illness has also transformed the technical side of her shooting.
“My technique is totally different now. My trigger is different. The way I breathe during shooting is different. The way I think during shooting is different.” Perhaps the biggest change, she says, lies in recognising when her body is reaching its limit.
“Now I can sense when my body and mind are under stress. I know when I have reached the marker where I need to stop, maybe take another day of rest, sleep more or simply break the routine.
“Sometimes it’s about meditation, swimming, music or doing something that relaxes the nervous system. Your body is always giving you signals. It’s just that we ignore them.”
Despite being the oldest member of the Indian squad and competing against a crop of talented youngsters, Sarnobat believes experience has become one of her greatest strengths.
“I’m in such a good space that I’m actually giving them tough competition. And I’m proud of that.” The months she spent away from the sport also reshaped her understanding of competition and success.
“Those periods when I was not shooting showed me that nobody really cares whether you’re there or not. Then why should I care about anything apart from my own health?”
“There were periods when I was only concerned about how I was feeling and what I was able to do. If that was enough to make the team, okay. If it wasn’t, that was okay too.”
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Published on Jul 18, 2026