Rahi trigger happy again after neuro-muscular memory loss

A harrowing spell of neuropathic pain behind her, the pistol ace finds her way back into competition

- Shantanu Srivastava

NEW DELHI: Rahi Sarnobat recalls that autumn day of 2022 with clarity. Indian shooters, following a medalless Tokyo Olympics campaign a year before, were gearing up for the Cairo World Championships and Rahi, still carrying the scars of Tokyo, couldn't wait for the first Olympic qualifier of the new cycle.

One morning in the lead-up to the competition, Rahi woke up with no control of her right leg. "I couldn't move the leg the way I wanted to, and there was this constant tingling pain. I didn't even know which specialist to approach, who to talk to," she says. It was just the start of a harrowing 18 months for the ace pistol shooter.

Diagnosed with neuropathic pain syndrome, Rahi felt "a million different sensations" all over her body, "from my eyelashes to my toe." The shooting range and the World Championships were pushed to the backburner as her physical and mental health became Rahi's only concern.

"The pain was unbearable. There are no words to describe it. All of a sudden, there would be a tingling sensation in my leg, then there would be a sharp, needling pain in my arms, then a stabbing pain in my back. It felt endless, horrible and scary."