Mumbai:
Sift Kaur Samra had heard of post-Olympics hangover, from athletes and shooters “more experienced” than her who’ve been through it. That normalcy takes time to return. That success there comes with an extended celebratory guarantee. That heartbreaks there take longer to heal.
Some of the country’s finest shooters in the past have receded into a shell after being stung at an Olympics that did not go to plan. A few have faded into oblivion. Sift, among India’s top medal hopes going into last year’s Paris Olympics who crashed out in the 50m rifle 3 positions qualification round as the event’s world record holder, sprung back by winning her first international tournament on return.
Her gold medal at the season-opening ISSF World Cup in Buenos Aires earlier this month wasn’t just a reinforcement of belief post the Paris blip, but also a reassurance that not every post-Games after-effect tale follows the same script.
“I’ve heard a lot of athletes say that it takes time to get back up after an Olympics setback. At one point I also thought in my mind that maybe that is indeed a fact,” Sift told HT.
“But within a month (of Paris), it struck me ki kya hi ho jayega (what’s the most that can happen)? In any athlete’s life, the pinnacle is the Olympics. That is now gone. You’ve reached that level and come back. What more can you do about it? Try and get there again. And the best way to do so is by enjoying it. So it took me no time to get back to normalcy, and to enjoy shooting again.”
It helped that the Hangzhou Asian Games champion returned to the range a day after returning from Paris, and that her mother had some words in store for her.
“She told me, ‘Look, it was just one tournament that didn’t go well. Yes, it was an important one, no question about it. But for the past two years, you’ve been having excellent tournaments. And in all those good ones, if one doesn’t go well, that doesn’t mean you’ve forgotten shooting, ya woh dimaag se nikal hi gayi hai (it’s gone out of your mind)’,” Sift said.
Her performance in Argentina, where she topped the qualification and went on to win the final with a score of 458.6, validated that belief at the start of a fresh Olympic cycle.
“This medal was really important for that,” Sift said. “This is my first gold in the senior category, so it was a bit more special and it meant a lot. I was also proud of the qualification round, because it was the first time that I had topped the qualification in an international tournament.”
It wasn’t without challenges. The final, played in the same range as the qualification, was in the evening, when it was darker and windier in Buenos Aires. Sift was playing catch up after kneeling — she zoomed from eighth from first — and while shifting to prone, the sling attached to her arm wasn’t opening.
“At one point, I panicked. The weather too was extremely challenging. I had a lot of thoughts going on,” she said. “This was the first competition in which I was really proud of myself for the patience I showed, controlled my mind and overcame external challenges of weather.”
Sift entered the World Cup in a good headspace and on the back of fine domestic form. After some rest, she will head back to training with the focus on improving her kneeling. “How much ever I can this year, I will try getting better at it. From next year onwards, it’s just standing anyway. So, easy for us.”
In a tweak for the 2028 LA Olympics, 50m rifle 3 positions finals will feature just the standing position (qualification will continue with three). The change will come into effect in ISSF tournaments from next year. Standing is Sift’s strong suit.
“I’m very, very happy,” she smiled. “It will be a little different for sure. Kneeling and prone helps you warm up a bit and settle into the rhythm of competition. I don’t know how it will be going straight into standing. It might take 1-2 events to get the hang of it.”
