CHENNAI: Even as the Sports Ministry and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) reiterate that Tokyo-bound athletes will be vaccinated, star wrestler Vinesh Phogat feels it will be better if the vaccination process starts sooner than later.
Vinesh said that she has been waiting for the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) or IOA to take a call in this regard. "It will be good if we get vaccinated soon. It has side-effects like fever and bodyache. Antibodies also develop after a few days of the second dose so I think the process should start soon. I am also waiting for it," the 26-year-old said in an interaction facilitated by the Sports Authority of India.
Vinesh might have clinched her maiden Asian gold last week but she is worried over her recovery period after the weight loss. "I first felt it in 2019 and started feeling it again this year. My blood pressure gets low suddenly and everything gets blurry. If that happens during bout then I cannot give my best. I felt that most during the Asian Championships. I need to monitor it."
Speaking on ways to overcome it, she said: "Planning my diet accordingly can help me overcome the issue." The numero uno woman wrestler in the 53 kg said that her foreign coach Woller Akos helped her in ironing out flaws since their association began in 2018. "I was very attacking and used to commit a lot of mistakes. However, now I have learnt to attack at the right time. I have also started watching bouts of my opponents and prepare accordingly," Vinesh said.
She will leave for a training camp in Bulgaria on Sunday and then compete in the Poland Ranking Series and international event in Bucharest, Romania scheduled in June. Vinesh was inducted to the Target Olympic Podium Scheme in 2015 and the total amount she has been supported with in the current Olympic cycle is Rs 87 lakhs.
This is excluding the total Annual Competition and Training Calendar (ACTC) support of Rs 51 crores provided by the sports ministry to the WFI for the financial years 2019-20 and 2020-21. She was all praise for Tokyo-bound Indian athletes including wrestlers Anshu Malik and Sonam Malik. "They all are fearless and confident. They always want to win. They are hard-working and push me to get better every day,"she said.
Emphasising that she has improved a lot ever since she was forced out of the 2016 Rio Olympics due to injury, Vinesh said, "Earlier, I used to suffer emotional breakdowns but now I have matured a lot. I now move on after losing bouts. I have become mentally strong. I think that injury turned out to be a blessing in disguise for me."
The 2018 Asian Games gold medallist affirmed that she hasn’t touched the peak yet and believed that achieving it during the Olympics would be her target. "I am not in a hurry. We are on the right track. I have attained 85 per cent now and hopefully I will reach 100 per cent by the Tokyo Games," she said.