When Struggle and Hardships Paid-Off for These Indian Olympic Stars

Gagan Narang:

Gagan is an ace Indian shooter and was the first Indian shooter to qualify for the London Olympics. He had won the bronze medal in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle Event at the 2012 London Olympics, a proud moment for any Indian athlete. He was born in Chennai and his ancestors belonged to Samalakha in Panipat in Haryana. His family then moved to Hyderabad from Panipat. He touched the gun for the first time at the age of six for shooting down balloons at the carnival in Chennai Marina Beach. In 2008 Beijing Olympics, when had to face defeat in the competition, his mother, unable to bear the news fainted and was hospitalized. Narang refused to give up and in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, he won four gold medals including a win against Abhinav Bindra. Life was a struggle for the Indian shooter as he had to stay away from his family for months. He had also cut himself from all the worldly pleasures only to concentrate on the London Olympics. His hardship had paid off as he won the bronze for the country beating fellow Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra to qualify for the top 8.