Abhijit Deshmukh from Chateroux
Ramita Jindal was in her nappies, when her coach, Suma Shirur, reached the 10m air-rifle final at the Athens Olympics in 2004. Since then, no female shooter from India had reached the finals of this event at the Olympics. Ramita, who started slowly in the qualification round, made it to the final.
On Monday morning, the stage was set. Ramita had an opportunity to create history, as no Indian female athlete had ever won a medal in a rifle event. The day before, Manu Bhaker became the first Indian female shooter to win an Olympic medal, in 10m air-pistol.
Ramita had a decent start with a score of 52.5. Her fourth shot was perfect 10.9. In the next five shots, she tallied 52.2, with a terrible 10th shot that fetched 9.7. That changed the momentum. Ramita finished seventh in the playoff shootout.
After the event, Ramita spoke exclusively to RevSportz. “This was my first Olympics. It will always remain close to my heart because there is so much learning here, and there is a lot of experience. It was great see such a competitive final on such a big stage. I’m really grateful for that. I’ve become more mature.”
On asked about learning from this experience, she said: “Confidence and belief are the key takeaways. Before the Olympics, there was a lot going on, and I had self-doubt. My sports science team was there behind me, and they helped me gain trust before my matches. I feel confident, and trust is the only thing that helped me perform well in the qualification and finals.”
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Ramita started her journey in 2017, when a friend of her father suggested she tried shooting. She enrolled in a small academy in Ladwa, a town in the Kurukshetra district of Haryana. “I started with a pistol, but felt it was a bit boring. When I saw that rifle is also an event, I switched to the rifle.”
Ramita added, “Initially, I used to work more on technique. Now, it’s more on the mental side. In the last few tournaments, I’ve focused on the mental aspects and tried to become more confident in myself and in my process.”
Suma, Ramita’s coach, spoke highly of her, noting her strong performance in the mixed event and her ability to learn from previous competitions. Suma highlighted: “She has a growth mindset. She is learning every day, and she is finding that courage inside her to use it and be able to perform. So that is the side we see about Ramita.”
Before the finals, Suma said: “I think more than anyone else, it is Ramita herself who wants to go out there and do her best. She has done it before, and now is the time to rest well, recover, and come back strong tomorrow.”
It was the first Olympics for the 20-year-old Ramita, and finishing seventh is an achievement she can take a lot out of. Her learning and experience will be incredible, and who knows — maybe like Manu — Ramita will finish on the podium at her second Olympics.
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