BackNarang brings first medal relief for India
Narang brings first medal relief for India
PremiumThe Bronze Moment: India opened its account on Monday with Gagan Narang shooting an aggregate 701.1 to win the bronze medal in the 10m air rifle event. Narang will also compete in the 50m rifle 3-posi
London: India’s first medal at the 2012 London Olympics came after high drama and tension, with the groom, so to speak, having fallen by the wayside, and the best man making it to the podium even if for a bronze.
The gold was won by Romanian Alin Moldoveanu (702.1 points) and the silver by Italy’s Niccolo Campriani (701.5), while Narang notched up 701.1 for the bronze. “At this level, it is difficult to say what the difference is between the gold and other medallists," said psychology graduate Moldoveanu. “Maybe it’s just a little luck."
He has won gold medals at the World Championships, Commonwealth and Asian Games and also registered a perfect 600 on occasion. But winning the bronze here completed an unfulfilled ambition—apart, of course, from getting India off the blocks in the hunt for medals here.
“This may not have been the colour we expected," said a relieved sports minister Ajay Maken. “But at least we have opened our score after some tense days. We hope that this is the start of more medals to come."
With the archers faring poorly in the individual events too, India’s scope of garnering 8-10 medals, which is what the contingent anticipated on landing here, may seem far-fetched now. But that did not seem to affect the celebratory mood of the officials.
Maken, in fact, announced that every medal winner at London would be given the status of an IAS officer—apart, of course, from cash awards and other largesse. With Olympic medals so rare in India, business houses are also expected to show their generosity.
To get back to the event, the shooting range was packed to capacity with supporters of Bindra and Narang turning up in huge numbers despite the 9am start. They were in for three hours and more of suspense-laden entertainment, with loads to lament after the qualification round, but more to celebrate after the final.
“My concentration fell," Bindra said candidly after the event. “I just lost steam." Was he adversely affected by the pressure of expectations? “At this level, everybody has some insecurity or the other," said Bindra, “so whoever holds his nerve better, wins."
Narang was a study in contrast to the erratic Bindra. He took his time to complete his series of shots, recovering smartly from a sudden slump in the fourth to finish in third place, just a whit shy of the Olympic mark.
In the final, where contestants get only 10 shots each and which is completed in less than 30 minutes, the pressure gets greater as the margin of error narrows to fractions of decimals.
Narang began strongly with 10.7 and finished equally well with another 10.7 to make up for two sub-10 scores to ensure that he would not relinquish his grip on a medal. With less than one point separating him from Moldoveanu, it could be argued that he had missed the gold.
But at this point in time, for the beleaguered Indian contingent, any medal is as precious.
Ayaz Memon writes a fortnightly column in Mint, Beyond Boundaries.
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