Gymnast Ashish Kumar vaults back, eyes international reboot

The heartbreak of failing to make it to the 2012 London Olympics saw the floor and vault specialist go out of limelight. At 31, he is keen to revive his international career.

It was a dream start for Ashish Kumar, then 21, in 2010 as he tasted back-to-back success, becoming the first Indian to bag gymnastics medals at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games and in the Guangzhou Asian Games. His bronze in floor exercise and silver in vault in Delhi was followed by the bronze in floor exercise in China.

Gymnast Ashish Kumar(Getty Images)

Until 2017, it was India’s only gymnastics medal at the Asian Games. Much has happened since then. Kumar faded away after missing out on a chance to compete at the 2012 London Olympics. Time went in dealing with injuries and rehabilitation as well.

A re-energised Kumar has bounced back at the age of 31, making it to the Indian squad for the 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships (October 18-24) at Kitakyushu in Japan. “Neither am I out nor am I down. I am back and once again feeling energised. I wish to relive my golden days of 2010. I feel I have the capacity to do it once again,” Kumar said on Sunday.

“Many would ask about my age. But for me, it’s just a number. I have the same zeal and fitness I had in 2010. I will try to give off my best at the world championships,” the Uttar Pradesh gymnast said. “It’s not going to be easy, but this will be an opportunity to test my preparations for the 2022 CWG and Asian Games.”

Away from the national camp in New Delhi, Kumar has been training under his personal coach Manoj Rana in Ambala. “Rana Sir is everything to me and I am training at an academy, which is meant for this year’s Khelo India Games. I am satisfied with my preparations,” said Kumar, who is paying for the training. “It makes no difference to me. I am getting the best training. I have got top class facilities here. I don’t think I need anything more.”

Rana has helped him shed around 4.5 kg in a month. “I had put on weight in the lockdown. I did some training at home and online too, but it didn’t make much of a difference. Whenever I got the chance, I trained at Khel Gaon in Prayagraj too, but I kept visiting Ambala regularly for training, especially fitness.”

Kumar will again focus on floor and vault at the world championships. “There are some changes in the difficulty of the events, but I am focused on my plan. I will try my luck on floor and vault at Japan,” he said. “In gymnastics, you either do it with perfection or you fall, so one should be ready for both.”

Missing the 2012 Olympics still pains Kumar. “It was a golden opportunity. I was in terrific form and had won medals even in the Commonwealth and Asian Games. Luck seemed to have deserted me as I missed out on qualifying by 0.7 point. One less foul and I would have made it. It still haunts me.

“If the federation had not (been) de-recognised then, it would have backed me properly and I could have qualified through the Asian continental quota. It did hurt a lot at that point. I tried appealing, but the fact that there was no one to take a stand for me meant nothing could work out.”

Kumar has left that disappointment behind as he targets next year’s Birmingham CWG and the Asian Games. “I want to prove that I can still finish on the podium at these Games.”