India, April 25 -- Running became second nature to Avinash Sable since he began dashing through his village's rocky roads and covering a distance of 6km to get to Mandava's zilla parishad primary school from home.

And so, when he couldn't for a long while, a question often crossed his mind. "Jo cheez mujhe lagta tha kuch nahi hai (something that I would think is really easy for me), I found it so difficult," said Sable. "I thought, how will I ever do this all over again?"

This was last year, a couple of months after India's top steeplechaser had surgery for an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus injury on his right knee in July. Earlier that month, a nasty fall competing in the Monaco Diamond League sidelined him to a long, un...