I am not a veteran, still the no 1 shooter in the country: Gagan Narang on Olympics 2020 dreams

Gagan Narang isn't content by being just a competitor. When he's not busy fighting for medals in various tournaments, the ace Indian shooter turns mentor and coach for many promising shooters aspiring to fight for the same in the future.

The 2012 London Olympic Games bronze medallist is donning a number of hats. First, he has his shooting academy, Gun for Glory, which he started in Pune in 2011 and is now spread in various cities across the country. If that wasn't enough, Narang has now started another mentorship programme, Project Leap, which takes under its wings the most talented young shooters of his academy and trains them full time in association with the Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ).

And all this while he aims to bag quota places for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. At 34, juggling these many responsibilities can be quite a challenge. But far from looking at it as one, Narang is relishing the multiple roles.

“My life revolves around shooting. And helping other shooters is something that I like to do besides my own sport,” Narang said here on Tuesday while announcing Project Leap's partnership with OGQ in the presence of its CEO Viren Rasquinha.

“There are just two-three things that my life revolves around: My own shooting, which I would say is 80 per cent of it. Then about 19 per cent is mentoring. It's a stress-buster for me. It motivates me to see them shoot. Also, there might be some aspects that I find, and then tell myself 'oh, this is something I should probably do and try'. So, it helps me stay in that environment. It's all about the sport for me,” he added.

And what about the remaining one per cent?

“The one per cent is photography. Whenever I get little time, I just go out in the jungle. Everybody knows that they can either find me at the range, or they can never find me at all, because I'm always in the jungle and out of network otherwise,” Narang said with a chuckle.

It can be understandable if Narang chooses to increase the percentage of his love for photography at this stage of his career. Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, World Cup, World Championships, you name it and Narang has a medal to show in all these events.

Yet, despite a glittering career of over a decade, he doesn't like wearing the tag of a veteran, nor does he want to slow down.

“I wouldn't call myself a veteran in shooting, because I'm still the No. 1 in India,” he said. “Shooting has a relatively longer career. But, of course, the sport has changed over the period of time. It has become more stringent and rigorous, and more demanding. So, you just have to keep up with the demands. If the sport goes one level up, you have to go two levels up,” he said.

No thought of retiring

Not that it's demanding enough for him to toy with the thought of quitting the sport, despite a disappointing 2016 Rio Olympics where he finished 23rd, 13th and 33rd in the three events he participated in and being struck by a few injuries over the last couple of years.

“The day that thought comes to me, then I will stop and do something else,” he said, before quickly adding: “Obviously, you get thoughts. But luckily I have a good support system in OGQ and my family. That just keeps me motivated.”

Clearly, Narang wants to keep shooting, keep evolving, keep aiming. And, despite one of his events – 50m rifle prone – being dropped from the Olympics, Narang is busy preparing in 3 Positions and air rifle with an eye on 2020 Games.

“The short-term goal is the World Cup next year, where the quotas will start. The idea is to get the quotas as soon as possible. And then go on from there,” he said.

Till then, it'll be a mixture of competing and mentoring.

“Good it's low-key at the moment. Now is not the time. The time is when it matters the most,” he said.

What's Project Leap?

Project Leap identifies the best talent from Gagan Narang's Gun for Glory academy aged between 10 to 20 years and provides them top-class training facilities in terms of infrastructure as well as coaching with the aim of grooming them for the 2024 Olympics. The first phase of the project has selected 23 young shooters – 12 girls and 11 boys – based on parameters like shooting ability and endurace. A total of six camps of 12 days each will be held over a period of one year at the Gun for Glory centre in Pune, where these promising shooters will be trained under foreign coaches and will also be monitored between the camps. The project is funded by Olympic Gold Quest, which now has 59 shooters and a total of 127 athletes under its wings.