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The Phogat sisters have always hogged the limelight when it came to women's wrestling in India over the years. Sakshi Malik, of course, grabbed the headlines after her heroics at the Rio Olympics. But away from all the frenzy and all the adulation, Navjot Kaur was silently working hard -- not yearning to be in the spotlight, but to do something for herself, for her sister and for her family.
On Friday, Navjot finally fulfilled her dream when she became the first Indian woman to bag a gold medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships at Bishek, Kyrgyzstan. In the final, she beat Japan's Miya Imai 9-1 in a largely one-sided encounter to create history.
After her win, as her coaches hoisted her for the victory lap, Navjot could not control her emotions and broke down in tears. On being asked what brought on such emotions, the wrestler told Sportskeeda how it was more than just a gold medal for her.
"As I was getting ready for the final bout, I could hear the National Anthem being played outside...I closed my eyes and I could see the Indian flag being hoisted...it was surreal," she recounted the thoughts that flooded her mind just before taking the mat.
"Then, during the bout, when I saw that I had gained a lead, I started hoping that maybe, just maybe, I could win the gold medal. In the end, eventually, when I won I was overwhelmed with emotion and I started crying. For the last four years or so, it has been a constant struggle for me. So, it was sort of a comeback from me and I think, that's why I broke down," the 28-year-old explained.
"My coaches were telling me, 'Beta, don't cry. This is a moment of joy, you should smile.' But those were tears of joy. It was an incredible feeling and I could not believe it for some time," she said.
Inspired by her sister & backed by family, Navjot started dreaming big
Navjot was not a very big fan of the sport at the beginning and it was only at her sister Navjeet's insistence that she took it up. With time, though, she started enjoying it. However, it wasn't until her sister suffered an unfortunate injury that Navjot started dreaming big.
"At first, I was not so much into wrestling. My sister always wanted to become a top wrestler and she used to force me to accompany her to the akhara. Gradually, I got sucked into the sport and I started enjoying it.
"My sister had huge ambitions but then, she suffered a career-ending injury. It crushed all her dreams but she didn't lose hope. I saw all that happening in front of my eyes and somehow, it inspired me. I felt like I had to do something, if not for myself, for my sister. You can say I developed an obsession, a hunger," she said.
As Navjeet and Navjot were growing up, aspiring to be wrestling champions, their family gave their full support. But the outsiders were always frowning at them as if to make their disapproval known.
"At home, no one stopped us when we started wrestling. However, the villagers and some of our relatives did not hesitate to point out that girls should not be wrestling," said Navjot, who hails from Bagrian village in Tarn Taran district of Punjab.
She remembered one incident in particular. "Once, one of my relatives told my mother, 'What are you doing? You are encouraging both your daughters to play a sport like wrestling. It's not for girls, it's not good. No one will marry your daughters.'
"So, when my mother relayed this to my father, he replied, 'Don't listen to what they are saying. Let them do what they want to do. We have to support them, no matter what.'"
"My father never distinguished between a girl child and a boy child. He never said that you are a girl, so you should not be doing this," Navjot said, her voice beaming with pride and utmost respect for her father.
Life is a journey full of obstacles
Even though she got the full backing of her family, Navjot's journey was not smooth -- if anything, it was filled with thorns. Her father, Sukhchain Singh, is a farmer who had to support the entire family. So, they were always running into financial troubles.
"When I started out, obviously, there were a lot of issues, a lot of problems that any budding sportsperson from a normal family has to go through. My father is a farmer and he has a 4-acre land. The income is not very stable because we earn only during the time of harvesting. The rest of the year there is hardly any income.
"So, financial troubles were obviously there. But my father refused to bow down. He worked day and night, he even had to take loans running into lakhs in order to support me. But he never let me worry about the monetary issues. Whenever there was a need, he used to provide somehow. He never thought twice because I think he believed in me."
Navjot had won a bronze at the 2011 Asian Championship and she went on to win a silver at the same tournament two years later. Then, in 2014, she won bronze at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and after that, the situation became better.
Navjot was recruited by the railways as a senior clerk and she had a steady income. That not only helped her gain financial stability but also gave her a sense of relief. She could focus on doing well and not worry about the other aspects so much.
However, just when she was starting to finally focus all her energy in the sport, nightmare struck. Navjot sustained a serious back injury.
"That was probably the worst phase of my career. Even after it had started healing, when I used to train for two days at a stretch, there was severe pain. At one point, I was even considering whether or not to continue," she said.
"I missed out on qualifying for the Olympics by just one point and that was something that haunted me. I felt that I had missed perhaps the best chance of my life. However, I have a few close acquaintances like my best friend, Shilpi, who always believed in me. She always told me that I would make a comeback. And I took strength from that.
"I wanted to go to the Olympics and in the process, I had aggravated my injury. I only did normal exercises for about six-seven months and that harnessed my progress. It was a long, painful layoff," Navjot rued.
'I hope my achievement inspires everyone'
Last year, she finally managed to overcome her lengthy injury and qualified for the World Championships. Although she crashed out in the initial rounds, losing 5-10 to Mongolia's Ochirbat Nasanburmaa, the qualification itself gave her a lot of confidence. Now, that Navjot has bagged the gold medal, her first significant achievement since 2014, it has boosted her confidence even more and she is raring to go for glory at the Asian Games and the 2020 Olympics.
"I qualified for the World Championships and that gave me some much-needed confidence. I felt that I might finally overcome my injury. And, now that I have won the gold medal at the Asian Championships, it gives me more confidence. It has given me the belief that I can do well at the upcoming Asian Games and the Tokyo Olympics. I can promise I'll be working hard and give my 100 per cent," she said.
From being just another lesser known wrestler to being the toast of the nation, it has been some journey. When asked about all the adulation that is coming her way, Navjot admitted that it was an all-together new feeling but she was enjoying it.
"As soon as I came back to my hotel, I called up my sister and then, I talked to my parents. I also talked to my personal coach Ashok Kumar. All of them were so happy and so proud of me. Moreover, everyone in the country was talking about me, everyone was sending messages to congratulate me, everyone was putting up my pictures on social media...it's a new thing for me but it feels great," she said.
Navjot is hopeful that her achievement will inspire others to do well. She spoke of how Sakshi Malik's bronze medal haul at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio had given the Indian wrestlers the belief that they too can win medals. Now, she hopes everyone will start believing that they can win the ultimate prize, the gold medal.
"Sakshi's success at the Rio Olympics gave us a lot of hope. It gave us a belief that we could go and win medals at the biggest of events. Before that, everyone used to think that they have to qualify for the Olympics. But after Sakshi returned with a medal, the thought process changed. Everyone started aiming to go and win a medal at the Olympics. It served as a huge inspiration for all of us.
"Similarly, I hope my achievement will inspire others. I hope everyone will now start thinking that they have to go and win the gold. Not bronze, not silver. Gold," she signed off.
