Wanted to prove my worth to myself: Commonwealth bronze medallist Unnati Sharma

“I just wanted to win a medal to prove myself, to prove my worth. To me only.”

There was no grand audience in that sentence. No desire to silence critics, answer doubters or make a statement to the world.

For Unnati Sharma, the Commonwealth Games medal was something more intimate: proof, primarily, to herself, that all those years of training had taken her somewhere.

The bronze medal she won in the women's 63kg judo event in Glasgow has since brought something she had not quite anticipated either: recognition.

In the spotlight

“When I came back, I didn't expect there would be so many people congratulating me and cheering for me,” Unnati told The Bridge. “I didn't expect so many people would be waiting for me to come back home and celebrate with me. It's a very, very good feeling.”

The attention is new. The work is not.

Unnati had spent years training largely away from the spotlight, building towards the sort of moment that most athletes imagine but few get to experience.

Even when the medal was not guaranteed, the people closest to her never made her feel that her worth depended on winning one.

Her family, she says, treated her the same whether she won or lost. Her coaches did the same. That mattered.

“I never thought that my hard work would go to waste,” she said. “My family has supported me every time. Whether I win or lose, for them I am the same. They were always cheering for me and supporting me.”

But that did not mean Unnati was indifferent to winning.

She wanted the medal. She wanted to know that she belonged at this level.

And when the opportunity came in Glasgow, it did not arrive in the neatest possible form.

Unnati had begun the day strongly, defeating New Zealand's Qona Christie to reach the semifinals.

Her run towards gold, however, ended against Australia's Saya Middleton. After securing an early Yuko, Unnati conceded two successive Waza-aris, the second completing an Ippon and sending Middleton into the final.

The disappointment was immediate.

“I was really disappointed. I just wanted the gold medal,” she said.

There was little time to sit with it.

A bronze medal was still available, but first came the mental reset.

Unnati studied her next opponent, South Africa's Skye Knoester, and began working on a plan.

“I completely changed my mindset and just wanted to win at least a bronze medal. I didn't want to go home empty-handed because I had worked so hard for this moment.”

The preparation paid off.

The bronze medal bout lasted just one minute and seven seconds.

Unnati executed a leg-tangle technique that sent Knoester onto her back, prompting the referee to award an Ippon.

And just like that, the disappointment of the semifinal was replaced by a medal around her neck.

“I watched the fights of the South African player and made my tactics. The tactics worked and I was able to win the bronze medal.”

For someone who started judo almost by accident, it was another significant step in a journey that has grown considerably bigger than the sport she first encountered at school.

Triggered by curiosity

Unnati comes from a family of five. Her father is a retired Army man who served with the 12th Garhwal Rifles. She first tried judo at school simply because she was curious.

Then came the medals at the national level. Then came the enjoyment.

“Slowly, slowly, I fell in love with the game,” she said. “I enjoy playing judo.”

Her trajectory changed further after joining the Inspire Institute of Sport. It was there that the scale of what was possible became clearer.

Before that, Unnati admits, the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and Olympics existed more as names than tangible destinations.

At the IIS, she saw athletes around her competing at those levels and winning medals.

“I realised what level is required to be there,” she said. “Seeing different athletes at IIS winning medals in the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and Olympics has given me a boost to do the same.”

Olympic dream

Now the Olympic dream is no longer abstract. Los Angeles 2028 is the target.

The Commonwealth bronze, rather than being the culmination of her journey, has become evidence that the destination might actually be within reach.

“I think it is just a step in my international journey,” Unnati said. “Winning the Commonwealth Games helped me see that the dream is not far. If we can do this here, we can also do it at the Olympics.”

The road there will demand more of the same work that rarely gets seen.

There are the good training days. And then there are the days when the body is exhausted, when there is no energy left and the last thing an athlete wants to do is train.

Those, Unnati says, can be the most important ones.

“A difficult day in training is when your body is too tired and you have no energy to play, but you still go and train yourself and push yourself,” she said. “Those are also very good days because during these days we learn so many things about ourselves and learn how to push forward.”

Judo brings its own additional demands: managing the 63kg weight category and dealing with injuries in a combat sport.

But there is another side to Unnati away from the mat.

When she gets time to switch off, there is no elaborate recovery ritual or complicated hobby. She opens YouTube and watches comedy shows, often repeatedly.

For now, though, there is little time to linger on the medal.

The plan is to use it as a springboard, competing regularly, improving her ranking and building towards Olympic qualification.

And perhaps the most significant change is that people are watching now.

Unnati believes the success of Indian judokas at the Commonwealth Games can alter how the sport is perceived in the country. The medals have made people notice a sport that often operates outside the mainstream sporting conversation.

“Now people are realising what judo is,” she said. “They know that judo is also capable of bringing medals at such a big event. They know that the level of Indian judo has increased.”

There is a particular audience she hopes notices. Young girls watching from home.

Unnati does not insist that they follow her into judo. She wants them to find a sport of their own.

“Whether it is judo, basketball, football, badminton, shooting, any sport they want, they can do,” she said. “It will help them to be confident and independent. They will learn so many new things in their life, and they will enjoy their life.”

The bronze in Glasgow may have changed how the world sees Unnati Sharma.

But perhaps the more important thing is what it changed for Unnati herself.

A medal, after all, was never really about proving something to everyone else.

It was about proving something to herself.