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India at Paris Olympics: Know your athlete - Sift Kaur Samra
All you need to know about one of India's brightest shooting talents.
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India’s sport shooter, Sift Kaur Samra, is competing in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions event at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The 22-year-old Samra’s journey into shooting began when her cousin Sekhon, a shotgun shooter, introduced her to the sport at a shooting range in Punjab when she was just nine years old.
Sift’s parents come from an agricultural background and are involved in the rice selling business in Punjab. She is currently being supported by the Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ). In 2023, Sift made headlines by breaking Britain’s Seonaid McIntosh’s world record by 2.6 points, scoring a total of 469.6 points. This included 154.6 points in kneeling, 157.9 points in prone, and 157.1 points in standing elimination, securing victory over Qiongyue Zhang of China.
Earlier, at the 2022 Asian Games in China, Sift won the individual gold medal in the Women’s 3P category, simultaneously setting a new world record. She also contributed to the team’s success, winning a silver medal alongside teammates Ashi Chouksey and Manini Kaushik.
To pursue shooting full-time, Sift Kaur Samra left her MBBS course at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital in Faridkot and enrolled in a Bachelor of Physical Education and Sports program at Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar.
While studying in 10th grade at Baba Farid Public School in Faridkot, Sifat was also encouraged by her teacher and started participating in competitions. After excelling in state and national tournaments, Sifat Kaur was selected for international competitions, where she continued to bring glory to the country.
On the penultimate day of the Olympic Selection Trials (OST) in Bhopal, Sift secured her third victory in the women’s 50m rifle three positions competition. She scored 461.3 in the women’s 3P Trial 4 final, narrowly defeating Nischal by a single point.
“Shooting is a part of my life, but it's not everything; I don't think about it 24/7. Things work out only when you give them their own space. For me, shooting's space is in the range,” Sift told ESPN after her selection for the Olympics.
