Priya Mohan’s journey to rebuilding her running career

A 3,200-feet high trek to a monastery in Bhutan brought Priya Mohan calmness, but she felt discomfort in her lungs. The high-altitude trek in October was during a family vacation. The 22-year-old had taken time off after prematurely rushing back to competition in March. A collapsed lung, a medical condition where air gets between the lungs and the chest wall and applies pressure, had put the brakes on the promising one-lap runner’s career two years ago.Priya was in the ICU for five days and then rested at home in Bengaluru for nearly two months before starting rehabilitation. The Bhutan trip was a reminder that her lungs were yet to fully heal.
She also used the time away from the track to sketch anime, appear for two semester exams for her bachelor’s degree in sports management, and to reflect on her life.
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“I got time to explore myself, think about what I want. I got a break and I spent time travelling and with family, writing exams and doing things I would not have done earlier,” Priya said ahead of the Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championship in Kochi.

Earlier this week, she ran in both the 100 metres and 200 metres races at the Indian Open in Chennai. An all-out 400m is still some time away for the two-time World Under-20 4x400m mixed relay medal, but Priya heaved a sigh of relief.
“It was my first competition (Chennai) in two years without pain. Earlier, at times, I would even feel pain in my lungs when I tried to walk. I would do a 10-metre run and then stop. Now I feel like a free bird. In Chennai, I was not thinking of any outcome or what people would say if I had a bad race. After the race, my coach gave me a KFC treat. Things will only get better from now onwards. Last year, I ran a 400-metre race in March, but I was in too much pain. Perhaps I was too eager to return to competition so after that, I took time off again,” Priya said.
An anime sketch done Priya Mohan during the break she took because of a collapsed lungs. (Special Arrangement)
The fascia, the outer membrane of the lung, was causing the pain. She travelled to the Netherlands for manual therapy and also focused on breathing exercises before slowly returning to the strength and conditioning phase.Story continues below this ad
The trouble started in June 2023 when Priya was training at the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS) in Bellary. She felt a sudden pain in her shoulders and chest. In the year of the Asaid, all her plans were put on hold because of the collapsed lung. “It was unexpected but I had to accept it,” Priya said. After the premature comeback last March, Priya wore spikes again and ran for the first time just six weeks ago.
Troy Douglas, Priya’s coach at the IIS, said that Priya was a changed athlete once she ran the races in Chennai. Douglas is a former performance coach at Ajax football club and was also the Netherlands head sprint coach, having trained a young Dafne Schippers, a 200m Olympic silver medal. He coaxed a tentative Priya to get back on track wearing spikes a month and a half ago.

“She was a scared individual, but she wanted to be where she is today. She had done the work she had to do, but she needed confirmation,” Douglas said. Over coffee during a conversation between the coach and trainee that lasted four hours, life lessons were discussed. “She wanted to come back but said, ‘I don’t have this, I don’t have that’. It was not because of a lack of confidence but because she is a perfection. I told her we have to be on track in April. I said, ‘put your spikes on’ and she did a workout and I saw a different person,” Douglas said.
The coach, a 2003 World Championships 4x100m relay bronze medal for Bermuda, is also making Priya think and train like a sprinter. “You do run a 400, but you need to be a sprinter too. She has started to think, feel and walk like a sprinter. You need a world-class 200. Otherwise, she can’t compete in the 400m. All top 400m runners in the world, like Gab Thomas, have incredible flat speed. If Priya gets better in the 100 and the 200, she will laugh at the 400 (because it will be easier),” Douglas said.Story continues below this ad
Priya is excited about training like a sprinter. “Earlier, I used to see myself as a 400-metre runner. You need speed in the first 200 metres to run a 400 metres. I am thinking like a sprinter now,” Priya said. From not being able to walk because of pain in the lungs, Priya has made progress and hopes to clock fast timings in the pet event soon.