Happy that I gave my 100 percent every time,’ Saina Nehwal on life without Olympic stage

The 2012 London Bronze medalist Saina Nehwal opened up on missing out on Paris Olympics, but expressed happiness that she gave her best each time she managed to make it to the Olympics.

The Indian star shuttler competed across three editions of Olympics (2008, 2012, and 2016), and also scripted history by becoming the first female badminton player to win an Olympic medal.

Nehwal appeared on ‘House of Glory’ podcast launched by Shooting legend and India’s Chef de Mission at Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Gagan Narang, featuring the sporting icons and unsung heroes in the Indian sports eco system.

Addressing her career, she said, “Competing at the Olympics is a childhood dream for all. You prepare to reach that level for years. Hence, at times, when you realise you will not be able to make it, it hurts a lot. Because it is not like you do not want to play, but your body is telling that you are not doing well and you have injuries.” “But I have done a lot of hard work. I competed in three Olympics. I gave my 100% in all of them. I can take pride in that and be happy about it,” she added.

Saina went through a spate of injuries on her knees in her career and the 34-year-old revealed that she finds it hard to continue training at the highest level for long durations due to her arthritis. “The knee is not very good. I have arthritis. My cartilage has gone to a bad state. It is very difficult to push for 8-9 hours. How will you challenge the best players in the world in such a state? I think I will have to accept it somewhere. Because 2 hours of training is not good enough to play with the highest level of players and get the desired results,” Saina said.

On being asked about whether retirement is on the cards for her soon, Saina kept her cards close to her chest, but admitted that she is thinking about it. “I am also thinking about it. It will be sad because it is like a job that a normal person does. Obviously, a sports person’s career is always a short one. I started at the age of 9. I will be 35 next year. So, I have also had a long career. And I am very proud of that. I have broken my body to a great extent. I am happy with what I have done and given it all. Will assess how I feel by the end of this year,” she said. Saina also opened up on the challenging phase of her career in mid 2010s when she struggled to get wins under her belt, and made the tough call of training away from Gopichand Academy. “From November 2012 to August 2014, I could not get results. I was upset about not getting performances for almost two years. It had never happened before and was unable to find solutions. My ranking dropped to 9th or 10th. I thought I needed to do something different. I had never gone out of the house to train. It was such a big decision to move out. I also felt emotional. But I had to make the decision. It was a question of my career,” she recalled.

She discussed with her coaches and her family and went to Bangalore in September 2014 for two months to train in a new environment. By December, her results started turning and by March 2015, she regained her World No. 1 Ranking once again. Saina said that athletes sometimes have to take breaks because of injuries but have to pay the price of taking the break by missing out on many important tournaments.

She said even to recover from injures, athletes do not have the luxury of taking a long break. “When you become a big player, your friends, family, coaches, sponsors, everyone wants you to perform. There are a lot of stakeholders involved. With already a short career span, athletes cannot afford to take a four-year break and have to keep performing continuously,” Nehwal said. “If you wish to become an international Champion. You have to be strong to make tough decisions,” she signed off.