Hyderabad: With sports enthusiasts rolling their sleeves up to witness another exciting sporting event as Paris Olympics 2024 is about to begin from July 26. India enjoyed its best-ever (seven medals) outing at an Olympic Games in Tokyo three years ago and expectations from the Indian contingent are high this time around. India is sending their biggest-ever contingent for the carnival of sports with 110 athletes aiming to give their best shot and earn a prestigious gold medal for the country.
With India achieving quotas across all Olympic shooting disciplines for the first time, the hopes for extending their medal tally and making the Paris Olympics the most successful event in history will be sky-high. Shooting is one of the sports which has been a part of every Summer Olympic Games since the inception of the modern Olympic movement in the year 1896 Summer Olympics except at the 1904 and 1928 games.
History of Shooting Events at the Olympics:
Earlier, competitions like live pigeon shooting in 1900; and dueling in 1906 and 1908 used to be conducted, but were banned because of military weapons restrictions. The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) came into existence in 1907 and standardised the discipline with time. When shooting was reintroduced in 1932, it consisted of two events, but the number of events gradually increased to a maximum of seventeen by the years 2000–2004.
The shooting sport was usually a "Men's" open event. For instance, only five women participated in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, while the next Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, which introduced women-only events, featured 77 female competitors. The United States has won by far the most medals in the Summer Games, followed by China and Russia (under the USSR flag) while India stand at 36th spot with just four medals.
Indian shooters track-record at Olympics
India have managed to win only four medals in this discipline and would expect to improve the record. It was Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who opened India's account in shooting at Summer Games, winning the bronze medal in men’s double trap event at 2004 Athens Games. India then witnessed at least one medallist in the next two editions with Abhinav Bindra creating history, becoming the first Indian shooter to clinch a gold medal in the men’s 10m rifle event at Beijing Olympics in 2008. In 2012, Vijay Kumar bagged the silver medal in Men's 25 m rapid fire pistol while Gagan Narang, who will be the Chef de Mission for India at 2024 Paris Games, won the bronze medal in 10m air rifle event at 2012 London games.
Indian contingent
India is sending their biggest ever shooting contingent for the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024. A total of 21 shooters will compete for 27 medals. The contingent consists some rising sensations Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Sift Kaur Samra, Esha Singh and Arjun Babuta who will fancy their chances to clinch a medal for India.
Sift Kaur Samra
Sift secured the Paris Olympics 2024 quota after finishing fifth in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions in Baku, Azerbaijan. She currently holds the world record in Women's 50 metre rifle three positions final. She achieved the milestone during the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games when she won the gold medal in the Women's 50 metre rifle three positions event. The 23-year-old was also won the silver medal in the Women's 50 metre rifle three positions team event at the last continental games.
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar is the junior world record in the 50 metre rifle three positions. He has clinched the gold medal in 2021 ISSF World Cup event in New Delhi and was in India’s shooting contingent in the 2020 Tokyo Games as well. Aishwary received ‘Arjuna Award’ from President Droupadi Murmu earlier in the year for his exceptional outings in the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023.
Arjun Babuta
Arjun Babuta won a bronze in the ISSF Junior World Cup 2018 held in Sydney. He has also bagged gold medal and bronze medal in 10m Air Rifle Event at ISSF Junior World Cup 2016, Gabala. At the 2023 Asian Shooting Championships in Changwon, Babuta won silver in the 10m Air Rifle, earning India a quota place to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. His experience and skills will be crucial for India’s shooting contingent.
INDIAN SHOOTING TEAM FOR PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS
Rifle
- Men’s 10m air rifle: Sandeep Singh, Arjun Babuta
- Women’s 10m air rifle: Elavenil Valarivan, Ramita Jindal
- Women’s 50m rifle 3 positions: Sift Kaur Samra, Anjum Moudgil
- Men’s 50m rifle 3 positions: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Swapnil Kusale
- 10m air rifle mixed team: Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan, Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal Pistol
- Men’s 10m air pistol: Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Cheema
- Women’s 10m air pistol: Manu Bhaker, Rhythm Sangwan
- Men’s 25m rapid fire pistol: Anish Bhanwala, Vijayveer Sidhu
- Women’s 25m pistol: Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh
- 10m air pistol mixed team: Sarabjot Singh/Manu Bhaker, Arjun Singh Cheema/Rhythm Sangwan
Rules of The Discipline:
- There are three Olympic shooting disciplines: rifle, pistol and shotgun. Rifle and pistol events take place on shooting ranges, where athletes aim at targets at distances of 10m, 25m and 50m.
- Shotgun events are different in principle, as they take place outdoors. Marksmen shoot at flying targets fired from different angles and directions.
- There are also three positions in rifle and pistol events: kneeling, prone and standing. Some events include all positions.
- The objective is to hit the targets as accurately and as close to the centre (the bullseye) as possible.
