Gagan Narang: The inspirational journey of the shooter from hitting balloons with toy gun to winning Olympic for India
The Ace Indian shooter Gagan Narang created a buzz by winning Bronze Medal in the Men's 10 m Air Rifle Event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Gagan became a household name in India with his praiseworthy accomplishment in the London Olympics.
In the Beijing Olympics Gagan Narang finished in top 10 as he grabbed the 9th spot, while Abhinav Bindra won the Gold medal in the same event. Narang made a huge comeback in London Olympics by becoming the first Indian to qualify in the London Olympics and then by winning Bronze Medal in the same event.
Gagan Narang's journey post-Beijing exit
In 2008 Summer Olympics of Beijing, Gagan was not able to perform good and was not able to qualify in the final round, he ended at the 9th position in the same event. For Gagan, overcoming the exit of Beijing Olympic was not easy, but the Hyderabadi boy was back in the game within the week of his exit from the 2008 Olympics.
From 2008 Summer Olympics in China to his journey of winning the Bronze Medal in the summer Olympic of London 2012, Gagan showed a lot improvement in his performance.
Gagan Narang's journey from hitting balloons with his toy pistol to winning Bronze Medal in Doha Asian games
Gagan Narang was fascinated with the rifle of James Bond. James Bond's Walther rifle inspired Gagan Narang to be a shooting star. He used to shoot balloons when he was just two years old with his toy gun. The biggest breakthrough for Narang in professional shooting came in the year 2003 when he won the Gold medal in the Afro-Asian Games in 2003 just at the age of 20 years. After Afro-Asian games, he never looked back. And he once again created a storm in the shooting world by winning the gold medal in International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) world championship. Narang not just won gold in the ISSF world championship, but he also brought four gold medal home in the Commonwealth games. Following his win in the Commonwealth games, the shooter won three Bronze medals in Doha Asian Games.
Due to his back to back performance in the world championship, Commonwealth games and Asian games, expectation were high from Narang in the summer Olympic of 2008. But the shooter missed to qualify in final round just by one spot.
Gagan was deeply affected by his failure in the Beijing Olympic yet the player manged to make a huge come back by winning gold medal in 2009 world cup followed by four gold in Commonwealth game in 2010 and two silver medal in Asian games.
Even-though Gagan Narang has made himself known in the shooting world by winning so many golds in different games. Yet the biggest achievement for the shooter came in 2012, when he won the Bronze medal in London Olympics.
After 2012 London Olympics, the shooter once again created a buzz in media by winning Bronze medal in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014.
First published: 21 November 2017, 13:00 IST