New Delhi : Months after his inexplicable meltdown at the Olympic Games, ace pistol shooter Jitu Rai says he is capable of not repeating history at the world’s biggest spectacle, provided he is part of the next edition in Tokyo 2020.
Rai had been tipped for a medal at Rio and was one of India’s biggest prospects in the precision sport, but the script unfolded in a manner that shocked the shooting fraternity and left the unassuming 29-year-old numb.
The Rio failure is now behind, as he looks ahead to the season with renewed interest after being bestowed with the ‘Champion of Champions’ title for pistol in 2016 by the International Shooting Sport Federation.
“Rio was one bad outing, bad luck. But that is history now and like always, I am trying to work hard so that I can bring home more medals,” Jitu told PTI.
A silver-medallist at the World Championships, gold medal winner at the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games and winner of many a medals at the ISSF World Cups, Jitu said his dream of bagging an Olympic medal is very much alive. “This was my first Olympics and I went there with a lot of hopes. Things did not turn out the way I would have liked but then I can’t do anything about the past now.
“I went to Rio well prepared (after winning a record seven international medals in one calender year). The Sports Ministry, NRAI, my employers and SAI all did their best so you can’t say that there was no effort. It just didn’t click for me in Rio that day. However, my dream to win an Olympic medal is very much alive and I can say that.”
