Mental health and resilience: Anjum Moudgil's journey to Paris Olympics

Anjum Moudgil has had a tumultuous period during and since the Tokyo Olympics. After returning without a medal, as did rest of the shooting contingent , from Japan, Moudgil struggled to find her foothold in the Indian team. She was left out of the Asian Games and the World Championships last year.

By her own admission, she was not enjoying and was not in the right headspace. She stopped painting, something she loves, as a recreational activity. The 30-year-old former World No. 1, a world champion, auctioned her artwork during the pandemic to raise funds for charity.

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She took a break from shooting and in October spent time in Manali learning paragliding. Many shooters tend to focus on building continuity with their process - how to step up to the range, how to prepare, how to zone the noise out, and how to unwind. The rest, from all these, helped.

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The emotional toll has been immense and she acknowledges the need for mental help for athletes and other professionals. After Simone Biles ’ high-profile case of ‘ twisties ’ at the Tokyo Games, Paris Olympics organisers have set up Mentally Fit Helpline , a dedicated and confidential counselling service available to all athletes.

Additionally, the Indian contingent will have access to mental health practitioners of their own - before, during, and after the Games.

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“It’s (mental health) so important for all the federations and IOC (International Olympic Committee) to understand. It’s important to understand the mental side, understand how it works for an athlete, understand mental toughness. So, it’s positive step to see mental helpline being introduced in Paris Olympics,” Moudgil said during a virtual media interaction.

“Athletes have spoken in the past about mental health issues. It’s a common issue which needs to be addressed not only for athletes, but in every profession.

“People should respect mental health, and not hide anything. The helpline is a positive step towards admiring mental health issues.”

In the run-up to the Paris Olympics, she missed the quota places but under the new selection policy by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), she came through the trials.

During the month-long trials, she started slowly before topping the standings in the second and third rounds. In the fourth and final round, she finished second to seal her spot in the squad headed to France. Her average qualifying score of 589.9 is considered good enough to make the cut for the World Championship and Olympic finals.

Joining her in the Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions event at the Paris Olympics will be Asian Games champion Sift Kaur Samra .

“Being an individual sport, we just really focus on the best we can do for our sport,” she said when asked to comment on competition within the contingent. “There are so many positive and so many strong shooters now with us. And I think them being so young, it really helps me to push my limits because had it been no one else to really come and do better, I would have maybe stuck somewhere where I was two-three years back. Sometimes you think this is the limit but then unless you really push and try to get better, you never know how how good you can be.

“So I’m really happy with this that, you know, she’s (Kamra) in the team and, I think the reason I’m here is because of the efforts that I have to put into. And I’ve learned so many things from them,” she said.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Moudgil competed in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions and 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event to finish 15th and 18th respectively. This time she is focusing on just one. Looking three years back, she put things into perspective - not just about how she performed but the mitigating factors of the pandemic.

“The environment was different because of COVID and we were away for two months training in Croatia. Everything was tentative, we had to give our tests every day in the morning and it was like any day anyone could be Covid positive and not allowed to shoot. All this really disturbs you,” Anjum said during an interaction on Tuesday.

“The next three years after Tokyo were a roller coaster ride for me and I’m very grateful for all those experiences. I’m sure all of those experiences would help me in Paris.”

She is counting on making the most of her Tokyo experience to do better in Paris. It has been helped significantly by seeking help in the years since the rescheduled Games in 2021. The maturity of acknowledging the disappointments of last year has also aided her growth.

“After all the things that happened in Tokyo, there were couple of World Cups, won medals and became World No. 1. Only after that I started focusing on my mental training and I’ve been working with someone from the last two-and-a-half- three years now. And it’s been such a positive change for me to work on my mental health. I sort of speak about the things that I have to go through mentally. So I think that is the main change in my mindset going into the Paris Olympics,” she said.

With a week left to the start of the events at the Paris Olympics, the shooters are in Luxembourg before departing for Châteauroux, approximately 270kms from Paris, the venue for the sport.

As for Moudgil, painting is back in the picture with the understanding that it was helping her switch off from the sport. There is clarity about what she wants to paint including projects for her peers. But when she steps up to the range on August 1, calms herself down with soothing and soft music, while focusing on her breathing and puts on the earplugs to keep the outside noise out, the target will be clear: a medal.