Kudos to Gagan Narang for fetching first medal for India

31 July, 2012

By bagging a bronze at the Olympics, Gagan Narang has made the entire country proud. It was an Olympian leap for shooter Narang while fellow shooter Abhinav Bindra failed during the qualifying round.

THE OLYMPIC history of India has been enriched by Gagan Narang's success in finishing third at the Royal Artillery Barracks range. It has spurred celebrations among the Indian diaspora and the countrymen back home. It was the third time in row that Indian shooters had won medals at the Olympics. Double trap shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won the silver in 2004, Bindra gave India a historic gold in Beijing, and now Narang has bagged the Bronze in London Olympics.

Narang’s success has added to India's less than impressive medal count - which now stands at 21 comprising nine gold, four silver and eight bronze in Olympics history. Narang, 29, participating in his third Games, had a total score of 701.1. It is unfortunate and unexpected too that Bindra will performed so miserably and shot only 594 to finish 16th out of 47 candidates.

Bindra’s luck deserted him during the qualifying round of the 10 metres air rifle event. It was needed that other Indians should rise high. There was a ray of hope as Narang lived up to the expectations in the qualifying round. As Indian athletes failed one after another at the London Games 2012, Narang gave the fight as he shot bronze in the 10m Air Rifle event.

Narang said that the ‘stone’ was growing heavier by the minute. Chances were hanging by the thread. Probably Narang was thinking that he had narrowly missed a medal earlier at the Beijing Games. As the crowd cheered for Abhinav Bindra at the Beijing Games, Narang stood in utter disappointment having missed the podium by the margin of one point. This time in London, Narang was able to stage a majestic comeback with a formidable performance and had outdone the best in the business to end India’s drought at 2012 Olympics.

That he was a fighter is clear from the records of his performances. Narang had won gold in the men's 10 metre air rifle event with a world record score in 2008 ISSF World Cup Final. He also broke Austrian Farnik Thomas' record, set in the 2006 World Cup final in Granada, Spain. Earlier Narang won four gold medals in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games. He is also a two-time world record setter. Soon after his brilliant performance at the CWG games, he followed that up with two silver in the Guangzhou Asian Games a month later. Now he has become the first Indian to win an award in London Olympics.