In faraway Chateauroux, India’s shooters find their focus
Indian shooters in Chateauroux, far from Paris, prepare for Olympics away from the spotlight. Sift Kaur Samra excited to explore Paris post-tournament.
Looking forward to competing in her first Olympics, Sift Kaur Samra is more upbeat about something else. “Going to Paris after my tournament ends,” she beamed. “I want to enjoy the sight of the city.”
About 340 Paris Olympians in shooting, 21 among them Indians, will not be at the heart of the Games. The shooters are in faraway Chateauroux, a small town around 300km south of the French capital. It’s here that India will take their first shot at a medal at these Games on Saturday, in the 10m air rifle mixed team event. The pairs of Sandeep Singh-Elavenil Valarivan and Arjun Babuta-Ramita Jindal will line up for the qualification followed by the medal rounds.
Gloomy and rainy in Paris hours ahead of the opening ceremony on Friday, it was bright and sunny in Chateauroux. Only a handful from the shooting contingent made the trip (about three hours by train) to be part of the unique ceremony by the river Seine.
Built in 2018, the Chateauroux Shooting Centre rests quietly in the company of quaint greens, isolated from the heightened hustle in Paris around the main venues. Tucked in their own separate Athletes’ Village there, it derives the shooters of the typical look, feel and touch of an Olympics. They’ll instead come across the same familiar faces that they’re used to seeing in global shooting competitions throughout the year.
“I know it’s the Olympics, and everyone says it’s a big deal. But for me, it’s like another tournament. We are anyway so far from Paris that it feels like any other normal World Cup for us,” Sift, the Asian Games champion in the women’s 50m rifle 3P, said. “We aren’t in the main Village, and won’t interact with other athletes.”
The Indian shooters do not necessarily mind that. Teen pistol shooter Esha Singh found the overall Village atmosphere of her debut multi-sport event at last year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou quite intimidating, and took some time to settle and soak it all in. The 21-member Indian squad — the same strength as China — has many first-timers at this Olympic stage, Sift included. Her coach, Deepali Deshpande who has three other trainees competing at these Games, also feels shooters being detached from the chatter at the crux of the Games could work to their advantage.
Perhaps more so after the disaster of the Tokyo Games three years ago. From much before the shooting squad checked into the main Village there with blaring ballyhoo, till the time they checked out in stunned silence, the spotlight remained well and truly on them in Tokyo. Shooters were camped overseas for months, without any escape from the bubble life in the lead-up to and at the Covid-hit Games. For the post-pandemic Paris preparations, the Indians spent some time at home followed by short camps in Bhopal and Europe before touching base in Chateauroux. If it was different and difficult in 2021, it feels easy and positive in 2024, as ace shooter Anjum Moudgil put it.
Just four rifle and pistol shooters who’ve gone through the Tokyo nightmare have lived to fight at another Olympics. There’s bound to be baggage, most of it battered, with Indian shooting and the previous two non-medal Games. The repeaters believe they’re wiser by that experience, while the freshers reckon they come in with a clean slate.
“I’m not for once thinking about that (Tokyo Olympics),” said Sift. “Look, I understand, expectations are natural. And we’re human too. But I don’t keep them. I just want to enjoy the whole thing, give my best and have a good time.”
That goes for after she’s done with her event too, when she leaves Chateauroux and plans to arrive in Paris. Action in other sports and venues would be thicker and faster here by then, and Sift may catch up with some of it. “I might watch some badminton. But mostly, I just want to roam around,” she said. “I’ll finally be in Paris, after all.”