All my life, I worked towards going to the Olympics. I experienced
great joy when I qualified for the Olympics with a world record score.
That was the stepping stone and it gave me so much confidence. I
qualified in February and had another five months for the Games.
There was nothing else in the head but to put up a good performance. The whole journey, going to the Olympics and stepping on to the Village, gave me a feeling that I had finally arrived. You have marked yourself in your career. That was just the beginning. I had only been to the Village in the Asiad and the Commonwealth where you don’t have the world’s best athletes. In fact, you have the best of the best in the Olympics. That was fantastic. You have the greats sitting next to you and I was among them. It was a fantastic feeling.
I was so focussed that I really didn’t stop to look around. Unfortunately, I could not attend the opening ceremony as my event was scheduled the next day. It’s never possible to attend the opening event. The first event was the big thing. You live every moment so thoroughly as if you are in an air-tight chamber. I remember every moment of my shooting. I‘d my strategies, stuck to my game plan, I gave every shot as if it was my last. I scored 396 in the prelims and made it to the finals, which was like a second victory.
There was huge attention from the media, which we shooters were not used to. That’s when it dawned that it was a big thing. You know you have a huge responsibility. I managed it well. After I made it to the finals, I tried not to look around. There was no time between the match and the finals, but teammate Deepali Deshpande helped me a lot. The whole experience of being in the final hall was a ‘dream come true’. I had a decent final which could have been better. Considering the time and resources, I was happy with my performance.
When I was leaving the Village for the airport, there was a feel of total emptiness. I had tears, for it was all over. Life wouldn’t have been meaningful without the experience. The day after my match will be etched in my memory. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore winning the Olympic medal gave me as much joy. More than my experience, watching the India tri-colour flutter was memorable.
— Shooter Suma Shirur took part in the 2004 Olympics in the 10m air rifle event. She is still involved in competitive shooting.
She spoke to G Krishnan
There was nothing else in the head but to put up a good performance. The whole journey, going to the Olympics and stepping on to the Village, gave me a feeling that I had finally arrived. You have marked yourself in your career. That was just the beginning. I had only been to the Village in the Asiad and the Commonwealth where you don’t have the world’s best athletes. In fact, you have the best of the best in the Olympics. That was fantastic. You have the greats sitting next to you and I was among them. It was a fantastic feeling.
I was so focussed that I really didn’t stop to look around. Unfortunately, I could not attend the opening ceremony as my event was scheduled the next day. It’s never possible to attend the opening event. The first event was the big thing. You live every moment so thoroughly as if you are in an air-tight chamber. I remember every moment of my shooting. I‘d my strategies, stuck to my game plan, I gave every shot as if it was my last. I scored 396 in the prelims and made it to the finals, which was like a second victory.
There was huge attention from the media, which we shooters were not used to. That’s when it dawned that it was a big thing. You know you have a huge responsibility. I managed it well. After I made it to the finals, I tried not to look around. There was no time between the match and the finals, but teammate Deepali Deshpande helped me a lot. The whole experience of being in the final hall was a ‘dream come true’. I had a decent final which could have been better. Considering the time and resources, I was happy with my performance.
When I was leaving the Village for the airport, there was a feel of total emptiness. I had tears, for it was all over. Life wouldn’t have been meaningful without the experience. The day after my match will be etched in my memory. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore winning the Olympic medal gave me as much joy. More than my experience, watching the India tri-colour flutter was memorable.
— Shooter Suma Shirur took part in the 2004 Olympics in the 10m air rifle event. She is still involved in competitive shooting.
She spoke to G Krishnan
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