"My lower body used to collapse" - Arjun Babuta recounts horrific injury experience ahead of Paris 2024 Olympics
Indian shooter Arjun Babuta will be making his debut on the grand stage of the Olympics, in the upcoming Paris Games. He is currently one of the finest shooters in the Indian contingent and is preparing himself for a medal at the Paris Olympics 2024.
A gold medalist at the ISSF World Championships, both at the junior and the senior level, Arjun Babuta's journey wasn't at all easy. He had suffered a major injury blow to his aspirations of becoming a shooter a few years back. Constant rehabilitation helped the 25-year-old get back to shape and the stage of shooting.
He opened up about his major setback, which was of course a huge back injury, to Sportskeeda in an exclusive interview. He said:
"It became the biggest challenge in my entire shooting career. The pain wasn't a problem. I was dealing with it for a few years. The main problem was I wasn’t able to stand anymore. My lower body used to collapse while shooting. Few doctors said I won’t be able to shoot anymore because of the change of the posture in the spine."
The shooter explained why the situation worsened for him, calling it the "biggest setback" of his career so far. He said:
"Few nerves got compressed and few muscles were not developed at all. That’s because I was continuously shooting and there was no break time as such. I used to train 9-10 hours a day and that’s what led to it. The injury phase taught me a lot. It was my biggest setback."
Arjun Babuta then shared how he recovered from this injury:
"I had to work a lot to get out of it. I did 3-4 hours of workout daily, including my shooting specific workout and the overall one. I used to do yoga and meditation and physiotherapy as well. It went on for around eight months.
"Post that too, it took some time (the COVID period) to gain that strength. The COVID period helped me a lot to get back to the top shooting scores. It not only helped me to get back to the lane but it helped me to improve overall in my shooting sport as well."
Arjun Babuta draws inspiration from India's golden boy
India's golden boy Neeraj Chopra is one of the inspirations in Arjun Babuta's sporting journey. When asked to share a bit about the same, Babuta said:
"Few of his qualities like getting back from injury and doing so well. And also, believing in myself that I can do it. That mindset is important for any athlete. Neeraj’s perseverance to the sport is really good."
Although there are a few countries who have a huge shooting contingent for the upcoming Paris Olympics, Arjun Babuta feels India is one of the favorites:
"We are one of the best in the world. And I believe we can do it. We have the capability, technical knowledge, zeal and hunger to do our best. I believe this is the time we are going to do it."