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Shapath Bharadwaj: From rising star to starting over, shooter finding way back
Forced to give up double trap after it lost its Olympic status and switch to trap wasn’t that easy, says the Asian Games bound marksman
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Bengaluru: The year was 2017 and Shapath Bharadwaj was a bright teenaged double trap shooter who had burst on to the senior circuit, making the World Cup squad. The following year, double trap was dropped from the Olympic programme and Shapath had to switch to trap shooting.
“Obviously there’s the technical side to the change that you can always learn. But when you’re 16-17 and you’re called a name-to-watch-out-for, considered among the best young shooters and then asked to start from zero, I think it takes a toll on your mental health,” Shapath, 24, told HT about having to change from double trap to trap.
The psychological switch took time. “There is no provision in place to help you navigate such a huge change—to go from being ranked top 20 in the world, having a mental roadmap and goals chalked out for yourself to not being sure of anything while still carrying the same expectations.”
It also brought about a shift in how he looked at shooting. “I saw a lot of athletes who got cut from their respective sports programmes and how their lives came to a standstill. That is when I realised that you cannot rely only on sport.”
He pursued his Bachelor’s degree in India while competing before deciding to fly to Greece on an Olympic Solidarity Scholarship for a Master’s degree in Olympic Studies at the International Olympic Academy.
Just days before he was due to leave for Greece, Bharadwaj equalled the world record of Britain’s Nathan Hales in trap, shooting 49 of the 50 targets. The timing was almost cruel. He was shooting well, and was about to step away.
His coaches and family urged him to stick to the plan.
He was away from the sport for around 16 months. “It was tough being away from the one thing that has been a major part of my life since I was a kid. Not even during Covid-19 did I take such a long break from shooting. I think mentally it was refreshing for me to go to a new place and find like-minded people who wanted to work closely with sport.
“At the end of it, I had some PhD offers and also offers to work in other countries which made me re-think if I wanted to return to shooting. But then I just kind of stuck to the plan, returned to India, worked with the Indian Olympic Association on a few projects and started training again.”
The experience in Greece changed how he approached learning. Before Greece, Bharadwaj admitted, he could be stubborn about a few things. “I became easier to teach after I came back from Greece,” he said. “After 16 months away, I rediscovered myself as a shooter and as a person.”
His return from Greece was followed by an ACL injury in July last year, which brought about another halt to his training.
In May this year, Shapath was at the Shotgun World Cup in Almaty, Kazakhstan, annoyed with himself for missing the final by two targets. “I was pushing myself a lot to be in that final and it was my first competition back in the international circuit after a while. I was annoyed to miss the final, that’s when my coaches told me that I had been picked in the Asian Games team. I just let that sit with me for a day. It’s my first major Games. It took a while to process the emotions.”
“I suppose, unlike earlier, I’m not the win-win-win, competition-competition-competition guy anymore. I prefer to focus on the process,” he said. “The dream to compete at an Olympics remains. Hopefully, in two years.”
