Hyderabadi Gagan Narang is now the pride of the entire country.
This 29-year-old ace shooter from the city has not only brought the first medal for India in the on-going London Olympics but also became the first-ever Hyderabadi to win an Olympic medal (bronze in 10 m air rifle shooting) on Monday, triggering off celebrations.
Not just at the otherwise serene setting of his residence in the by-lanes of Begumpet but also across the sporting fraternity.
And, Gagan also becomes till date only the second one ever to win an Olympic medal from the State (the other being Karnam Malleswari from Srikakulam district).
For someone who missed the qualification for final in the 2008 Beijing Olympics by a whisker, four years later Gagan served a gentle reminder about his champion status in the world of shooting.
“All I need is a bit of luck on the given day. This sport demands the highest level of focus and puts great test to your mental strength. I just hope that this Olympics will be much better off than the previous two,” was how Gagan remarked before leaving for London.
In fact, for the parents – Bhimsen and Amarjit, it was an agonising suspense the whole day as Gagan had switched off his mobile phone to avoid any kind of distraction. So much so, that they preferred to stay back home and watch their son compete in Olympics rather than going to the venue!
All they could do was convey their best wishes and not have a lengthy chat when the shooter himself called them yesterday.
Ironically, this genteel Hyderabadi has to look to Pune to set up his ‘Gun for Glory’ shooting academy after a reportedly indifferent response from the Andhra Pradesh State government. “He did submit his long-term plans to promote the sport and tap talent long back. Since there was no response, he had no option but to look to Pune,” says an official of Rifle Association of Andhra Pradesh.
It was apparent that this former World Cup and world champion was actually very keen to give back something to the sport even while he was pursuing his dream of an Olympic medal. “See the results. Sixty-eight medals won by the trainees in the one year since it was set up in Pune,” reminds the proud father Bhimsen Narang.
“Well, it took me four years to guide my son to win a medal,” he says with a smile.
Well, when the proud mother prepares Gagan’s favourite dish – chole puri – when the latter returns home, they have every reason to feel proud – making the entire nation proud.
Keywords: Gagan Narang, 2012 London Olympics, India in London
Hearty congratulations Gagan , you bring pride to our country and our state
Congrats!!!!! gagan....sir!!! we are very proud of you..
congrats Gagan sir,,, india is very proud of u!
congrats Gagan. you made india proud.
Congrats.....Gagan.........
who will bring the gold glory this time around
Delhi has 'n' number of world class stadium constructed, but all closed for 12 months without maintenance. Only during national games or big international events those the opened. Why dont we allow school kids access to these statdium & coaching from quality national coaches to prepare future generation of medal winning sportsmen.
congratulations to gagan..........
“He did submit his long-term plans to promote the sport and tap talent long back. Since there was no response, he had no option but to look to Pune,”.
This shows what importance is given to sports by our successive governments. No wonder we are were we are!
All indians in particular Hyderabadis in Kuwait join to congragulate Gagan who really touched Gagan(sky)
all Indian's start celebrations for Gagan's performance in olympics..
India start encountering medals in Olympics-2012.....
gagan is the one step stone to the history of the india in olympics ,because he not only pulfilled his goal but also the a fulilled the 100 crore indians wish ,he is not first one to got the medal from india but he is the one who got medal from andhra in archery ,he not only got this but also almost show a best performance in all events like asia cup,asia championship and other events. best of luck for gagan to take our pristage in more higher position
Cheer up India for our son Narang has achieved an Olympic medal for us !
But on a broader sense , there is no point to shrug our shoulders up as this is the first medal won by a billion populated country after 4 days in London . The reason is obvious !
Narang is just the 2nd one from Andhra Pradesh to taste the Olympic medal . Why ? The unsought response of the State government for his noble idea of setting up an Academy is an earmark of how Sports are being encourage on our land of Pride !
wow great we proud to be indian great ..............cong gagan
narang.......
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