Gold-winning pistol shooter backs beleagured boxer, says every athlete competes with utmost honesty
Jitu Rai is a shooting star. Literally. The 27-year-old has had a remarkable year so much so that he has won a medal in every competition he has taken part in, his latest being 50m pistol gold at the just-concluded Incheon Asian Games.
From leaving his village in Nepal, where he grew crops, Rai has come a long way and is hungry for more.
The past year has been nothing short of brilliance for Rai. His successes this year include a silver in the World Championships in 50m pistol, World Cup gold and silver in 10m air pistol and 50m pistol events in Maribor, respectively, a World Cup silver in 10m in air pistol in Munich and gold in the 50m pistol at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Throw in the Asian Games gold at 50m pistol and the bronze in the 10m air pistol team event and that is seven medals in 2014 for Jitu.
But Rai is far from satisfied. "It's been a good year for me. Records and medals will come and go. Now is not the time where I will be satisfied with how much I have done. Now is the time to look forward to the next tournament," said Rai who will shift focus to the ISSF World Cup to be held in Changwon, South Korea, in April.
Rai's army background has made sure he has only one primary goal, and that is to win medals for the country. Everything else takes second preference including marriage. "Nothing before Rio," said Rai with a laugh. He also credits the army for making him deal with failure on a much mature level.
"I don't doubt myself when I don't finish on the podium. That should never happen. Winning and losing are part of the game. Sometimes, losing is also good. It makes one a better player than his previous tournament. I play to enjoy and there is no question of me ever feeling bored of shooting."
He's slowly becoming a household name in India, but what is the scene back home in Nepal. "Not once has it occurred to me that I should represent Nepal. No one even thinks of such mundane things. The sport back in Nepal isn't given much exposure. It's the way things are," said Rai, who rated the Incheon gold as his best performance this year.
"I went in with the mentality that I wanted to win. Let's end the year on a high. I didn't want to settle for anything less than a gold and that's what I brought back home," said Rai with a smile.
Rai's slowly raking up the popularity charts in the country and recounts an incident a few weeks back that indicates he still has a long way to go. "At Indore airport, no one recognised me. Until 2013, I was a complete nobody. People have just started to hear the name, thanks to my performances but they won't know how I look like. Such things motivate me to win even more for the country."
If not for the people, Rai's gold in Incheon has won a fan in the Uttar Pradesh government, who before the Games, refused to recognise his achievements and has now presented the 27-year-old with a Rs50 lakh grant. "It's better late than never. This will only motivate me to do better."
Lastly, he chose not to say much about boxer Sarita Devi controversy. "What do I say about this? What she has done is right. Every athlete plays with utmost honesty with victory being the only goal. There is so much of hardwork put in, so it's expected that she will feel bad. The world can see the video on YouTube what went right and what went wrong. I would have done the same as Sarita if I were in the same spot." said Rai.
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