|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ace shooter and Olympic bronze medallist Gagan Narang speaks to Aman Sood on his medal, his future prospects and how he took to shooting:
Winning a medal at the London games was my goal for a very long time. My next aim is to change the colour of the medal in Rio. Whom do you give credit for the recent London medal? The credit goes to every person who worked along with me tirelessly, my coach, my support staff. My parents and my friends have rallied around me and never lost faith. When did shooting become a serious sport for you? I started shooting as a teenager. My first big medal came at the Afro- Asian Games in 2003 where I won a gold. That was six years after I picked up the sport of shooting professionally. There has been no looking back since then. How do you plan to take it from here till the next Olympics as you aim for a gold medal? I have my World Cup finals coming up next month. I shall have to get back to the grind. I shall be planning for the next four years with my coach, subsequently.
From a shy village lad to a silver medallist in the London Olympics, Vijay Kumar has travelled a long way
From the remote district of Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, to a silver medallist in the London Olympics, Vijay Kumar has travelled a long way. Kumar picked up the gun only after he joined the Army. And at the training sessions in shooting is where he discovered his potential. This potential was spotted by all others in the Army camp and he took to shooting in 2003, bagging a gold medal in the 2003 National Open Shooting Championship. Born on August 19, 1985, the 25-metre Rapid Fire Pistol shooter in May last year became one of the 11 shooters from India to book a place at the London Olympics when he won a silver medal at the shooting World Cup in Fort Benning, USA. He talks to Aman Sood about his Olympic silver and his current number two rank: Excerpts: Any special contributions by others in your medal? I dedicate my medal to my parents, who always stood by me through thick and thin. They never let me feel any burden of family affairs and were always bothered about my performance on the range. My friends and my employers, the Indian Army, backed me all these years. Will the medals change people’s perspective about this sport? Absolutely. Before 2004, shooting was a sport which begged for finances. Even the government was not keen. In 2004 when Rathore won a medal in shooting, things changed. More sponsors, more shooters in the domestic circuit, more facilities were up for grabs. Things will further improve with two medals this year. Tell us about your struggle all these years? The initial days were hard. Things improved with medals that I won abroad and later when I qualified for Olympics. But coming from a small village, Harsour, and winning a silver medal felt just great. I had never dreamt of being a sportsman and it was only when I picked up the gun during mandatory firing drills in the Army that I realised that I had it in me. You recently bagged world number two rank as per the latest ranking. It is always good to be in the top bracket but it also means more hard work to sustain oneself at that level. Your feelings about how sportsmen in India are treated I feel there should be more cash incentives for outstanding sportsmen. Haryana and Punjab are doling out money for their sportsmen, unlike many other states. My own home state Himachal Pradesh also needs to do much more if it wants more of its sportsmen to bring honours. — AS
|
|||
|
|
|||
What are your future
prospects, after winning the Olympic medal?
