 Full Name: Gagan Narang
Born: 6 May, 1983 (age 29)
Sports: Shooting
Event: 10m Air Rifle
Gagan Narang had everything in shooting to his name barring an Olympic medal. His disappointment of missing out at Beijing was always apparent in his interviews. But, at the London Games, Narang got his much awaited and much cherished Olympic medal. A bronze medal to his name and he has probably got everything in shooting now.
As the Indian fans went in a state of shock seeing 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medalist Abhinav Bindra get knocked out in the qualifying round, Narang had made it to the finals with an impressive qualifying score. Bindra who made the entire country proud by winning the first ever gold medal in the individual category in 2008 couldn’t defend his title but Narang was still in the reckoning.
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, Gagan Narang rose to the occasion as he shot bronze in the 10m Air Rifle event.
The Hyderabad marksman scored 598 points which got him the third spot, just a point behind the number one and two qualifiers – World No. 1 Niccolo Campriani of Italy and Romania`s Moldoveanu Alin George who both came up with an Olympic-record equalling 599.
Narang finished with a 10.3 and then a 10.7 to snatch a bronze medal away from China`s Wang Tao. It was a relief for the man who had narrowly missed a medal 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 he made sure that he didn’t go through a similar experience. He came up with a formidable performance and defeated the best in the business to end India’s drought at 2012 Olympics.
Narang’s seventh and eighth shot produced scores of 9.9 and 9.5 but he pulled up his socks to seal the bronze with impressive scores of 10.3 and 10.7.
Narang’s brief profile
Gagan Narang won Gold in the men`s 10 metre air rifle event with a world record score in 2008 ISSF World Cup Final. Gagan shot a perfect 600 in the qualification round and scored 103.5 in the final round making total score of 703.5 to gain the world record. Narang broke Austria`s Farnik Thomas`s record, set in the 2006 World Cup final in Granada, Spain.
Narang scored 703.5 -- a perfect 600 in the qualifying and 103.5 in the final -- to break Austria`s Farnik Thomas`s record, set in the 2006 World Cup final in Granada, Spain.
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.
First Published: Wednesday, July 18, 2012, 17:43
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