Para Sports
I moved away from orthodox training: Varun Singh Bhati on winning medal after 7 years
The 30-year-old high jumper had last won a medal in major tournament at the 2018 Asian Games.
Varun Singh Bhati in action during the World Para Athletics Championship in New Delhi. (Photo credit: PCI)
At the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships n London, Varun Singh Bhati stood on the world stage with a bronze around his neck and fire in his eyes.
But between the 2017 and 2025 World Championship, his journey was marred with injuries and he trained in the oblivion.
Chasing a dream without podiums or making headlines, he would go through the quiet, relentless grind every day. Not once did the thought of retirement cross his mind.
“To be honest, I haven’t had a peaceful sleep in the past 7-8 years. It’s been almost 8 years since I last won a medal. For an athlete, that’s a long time. I’ve battled injuries,” Bhati said after making the podium in the men’s high jump T63 category at the recently concluded World Para Athletics Championship in New Delhi.
“For the last two years, I was performing well. But this year, I was finally fully fit. And I think you can see that in my performance,” Bhati added.
The weight of nearly a decade of hard work had turned into a weightless relief.
“But the thought of retirement never came to my mind and my wife never let it come either,” he quickly admitted.
Moving away from orthodox training and making some changes, Bhati reflected on the transformation that led him back to the podium.
“This year, I changed a lot of things. My younger brother is now my strength and conditioning coach. I moved away from orthodox training methods and focused more on strength work. I even went to the USA for 45 days, where Coach Jeremy helped me fine-tune my techniques,” the Rio Paralympic bronze medalist said.
Speaking about his success in New Delhi, Bhati said, “I was very hopeful of putting up a good performance, and had to settle for the bronze. In the 2018 Asian Games I did 1.82m and this year I did 1.85m. This is the most successful year of my life and it is good to be back (on the podium). I will try to elongate my career as much as I can.”
“I can sleep peacefully after spending a lot of sleepless nights. My performance here gives me hope for a good performance for next year’s Asian Games,” he concluded.
