Gagan Narang

Gagan Narang (born 6 May 1983) is an Indian shooter, supported by the Olympic Gold Quest. He was the first Indian to qualify for the London Olympics. He won the Bronze Medal in the Men's 10 m Air Rifle Event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London with a final score of 701.1 on 30 July 2012.[2][3][4][5][6]

Gagan Narang
Narang at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
Personal information
NationalityIndian
Born (1983-05-06) 6 May 1983
Chennai, Tamil Nadu
OccupationRifle shooting

Early life and background

Gagan was born to Bhimsen Narang and his wife Amarjit to a Punjabi family in Chennai on 6 May 1983.[7][8] His father is a retired chief manager of the Air India.[9] Gagan's family hail from the Simla Gujran village of Haryana's Panipat district.[10] However, his father's job assignments made them to shift from Panipat to Hyderabad, where he was brought up.[11] He did his schooling from the Gitanjali Senior School. He attained his Bachelor of Computer Application degree from the Hyderabad's Osmania University.[12][13] He took to shooting when his father presented him an air pistol in 1997. He went about perfecting his shooting skills at the backyard of his home in Begumpet.[13] According to his father, Gagan showed early sparks of his shooting ability when, at the age of two, he shot a balloon with a toy pistol.[9]

Career

Narang won a gold medal in the Afro Asian games, 2003 in Hyderabad on 26 October 2003 in Men's 10m air rifle competition.[14] He won the Air Rifle Gold medal at the World Cup 2006 and followed it up with win in the event in April 2010.

In a pre-Olympic event in Hannover, Germany, Gagan shot an Air Rifle score higher than the world record, 704.3 as opposed to 703.1 set by Thomas Farnik of Austria in the World Cup 2006. Gagan Narang won 4 Gold medals at 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Narang qualified for the 2008 ISSF World Cup Final after he won a gold in the World Cup in China earlier in 2008. Gagan shot a perfect 600 in the qualification round. He scored 103.5 in the final round making total score of 703.5 to gain the universe record.[15][16] On 4 November 2008, he broke Austria's Thomas Farnik's record, set in the 2006 World Cup final in Granada, Spain. Gagan said his win was special because Barack Obama, who won the United States' Presidential election on same day, was a source of inspiration.[17]

Narang added 4 Gold medals to the Indian tally at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. In the Men's 10 m Air Rifle singles event, he shot a perfect 600 which was a new record.[18] Gagan also clinched a silver medal in his pet event at the Asian Games 2010. He also combined with Abhinav Bindra and Sanjeev Rajput to win the country another silver, in the team event behind champions, China. He won both of his silvers on the opening day of Asian Games.[19]

Narang won the bronze medal[2] in the 10m air rifle event at the 2012 London Olympics with a total score of 701.1 becoming India's first medal winner at the 2012 games. Gagan was just behind the silver medallist Niccolo Campriani of Italy who scored 701.5, while the gold medallist Alin George Moldoveanu of Romania was at 702.1.[3] However he failed to qualify for the finals of the men's 50-metre rifle three positions at the Royal Artillery Barracks.[20]

Narang won 1 silver medal and 1 bronze medal in 50-metre rifle prone and 50-metre rifle 3 position respectively at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.[21][22]

ISSF World Medal Tally
No. Event Championship Year Place Medal
1 10m air rifle ISSF World Shooting Championships 2010 Munich
3 50m rifle 3 Positions ISSF World Cup 2009 Changwon
4 10m air rifle ISSF World Cup 2009 Changwon
5 10m air rifle ISSF World Cup Final 2008 Bangkok
6 10m air rifle ISSF World Cup 2008 Beijing
7 10m air rifle ISSF World Cup 2006 Guangzhou

World record
Current world records held in 10 m Air Rifle
Men Qualification 600  Tevarit Majchacheep (THA)
 Denis Sokolov (RUS)
 Gagan Narang (IND)
 Gagan Narang (IND)
 Zhu Qinan (CHN)		 January 27, 2000
March 1, 2008
May 5, 2008
May 16, 2008
September 22, 2011		 Langkawi (MAS)
Winterthur (SUI)
Bangkok (THA)
New Delhi (IND)
Wrocław (POL)

Controversy

In August 2010, Narang had publicly expressed his displeasure after being ignored for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award thrice and he threatened to skip the 2010 Commonwealth Games due to lack of motivation.[23] However, intense pressure from his family and fans, he later decided to participate.[24]

Summer Olympics
Year Event Rank Notes
2004 Athens 10 m air rifle 12
2008 Beijing 10 m air rifle 9
50 m rifle Prone 35
50 m rifle three positions 13
2012 London 10 m air rifle
50 m rifle prone 18
50 m rifle three positions 20
2016 Rio 10 m air rifle 23
50 m rifle prone 13
50 m rifle three positions 33

Awards & Recognitions

In recognition with his achievements, Narang was conferred with the Padma Shree Award in 2011.[25] Gagan Narang was selected for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award for 2010. This is the highest sports award in the country.[26] He was conferred the award by then president Pratibha Patil on 29 August 2011.[27] Also Gagan Narang was invited by the organisers of the Indian Grand Prix to wave the chequered flag in the 2012 Indian Grand Prix.[28]

Awards for 2012 Olympics Bronze medal

  • ₹10 million (US$140,000) cash prize by State Government of Haryana.
  • ₹5 million (US$70,000) cash prize by the State Government of Andhra Pradesh.[29]
  • ₹5 million (US$70,000) cash prize by the State Government of Rajasthan.[30]
  • ₹2 million (US$28,000) cash prize by Steel Ministry of India.
  • 2 kg of gold by Sahara India Pariwar.

References
  1. "Who is Gagan Narang". Hindustan Times. 5 October 2010. Archived from the original on 6 October 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  2. "Gagan Narang wins India's first medal at London 2012 Olympics". Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  3. "Olympics 2012: Gagan Narang shoots a bronze, India wins first medal". Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  4. "Olympics 2012: 10m Air Rifle Final Scores". Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  5. "Ten spectacular feats of Gagan Narang". Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  6. Harish, Kotian (26 May 2020). "How I slayed my demons and won an Olympic medal". Rediff.com.
  7. Das, N Jagannath (31 July 2012). "Gagan's dream realised: Parents". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  8. "Gagan Narang". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  9. Subrahmanyam, V. V. (31 July 2012). "Nerve-wracking moments... and joy!". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  10. Lohumi, Bhanu P (31 July 2012). "Narang's village bursts into celebrations". The Tribune (Chandigarh). Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  11. Deswal, Deepender (31 July 2012). "We want to honour Gagan". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  12. "Royal reception for Gagan". The Hindu. 14 August 2012. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  13. Unnikrishnan, M.S. (1 April 2006). "UNCOMMON WEALTH". The Tribune (Chandigarh). Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  14. "Gagan Narang wins India's first gold". 26 October 2003. a rediff.com article about Afro-Asian Games
  15. "Narang wins World Cup, sets world record". The Times of India. 5 November 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2008.
  16. "Gagan Narang shoots to world record, wins world cup". IBN Live. 5 November 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2008.
  17. "Narang wins World Cup gold with new record". Rediff. 5 November 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2008.
  18. "Gagan Narang grabs gold in 10m air rifle". 5 October 2010. an article on Commonwealth Games 2010
  19. "Asian Games: Gagan Narang provides India with silver lining on opening day". 13 November 2010. An article on Asian Games 2010
  20. "Olympics: Shooters Narang, Rajput fail to qualify". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  21. "I'm happy to win a CWG medal in new event: Narang". 28 July 2014. an article on Commonwealth Games 2014
  22. "Sanjeev Rajput wins silver, Gagan Narang takes bronze". 29 July 2014. an article on Commonwealth Games 2014
  23. "Gagan Narang threatens to skip Commonwealth Games". The Times of India. 8 August 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  24. "Gagan Narang to participate at Commonwealth Games". Hindustan Times. New Delhi, India. Press Trust of India. 17 August 2010. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  25. "Padma Shree for Gagan Narang". 25 January 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  26. "Gagan Narang gets Khel Ratna award, Zaheer gets Arjuna". The Times of India. 22 July 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  27. "Gagan Narang to be conferred Khel Ratna on Aug 29". Rediff.com. 18 August 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  28. "A tribute to a champion". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 29 October 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  29. "Rs50 lakh cash reward to Gagan for bagging Olympic medal". The Times of India. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  30. "Rajasthan announces cash awards for Olympic winners Vijay Kumar, Sushil Kumar, Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal and others". The Times of India. 13 August 2012.
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