Faridabad, Former Asian Games gold medallist double-trap marksman Ronjan Sodhi believes India’s target of winning 30-40 medals at the 2036 Olympics whose hosting rights it is strongly bidding for is still a distant prospect, with the country already behind schedule in talent identification and scouting for the 10-year plan.
We are lagging behind in all of them by a huge margin compared to nations who have a history of hosting the Olympics,” said the Khel Ratna Awardee, who won back-to-back gold medals at the elite World Cup Final. “When I won two silver medals at the Commonwealth Games, people actually sympathised with me. “There are five things: infrastructure, equipment, athletes, coaches and job security for sportspersons. We need to work on these five things for India to do well at any games. “But when I talk about clay target or 50m and 25m events, we just have the Karni Singh Range. So, first of all we need infrastructure, and then it has to be used in the right manner. “We need to see the overall picture and identify which sport can yield more medals. There is only one winner.”
Because the nation’s ranking goes up, and some of them came and told me, ‘Better luck next time’..
Elaborating further, he said, “When I discuss infrastructure, specifically for a sport like shooting, the first thing we need is more ranges. And then work towards it,” he said. Today in Delhi-NCR, we only have the Karni Singh Range and a handful of private ranges. Today if you go to the Karni range, the first thing you’ll be told is that the guns aren’t there, the ammunition isn’t there… that you need to be an established shooter to come.
“As far as thinking or dreaming is concerned, nobody can stop anyone. But as far as the medals are concerned, we are far behind. When you’re talking about being right up there at the Olympics, unfortunately, we’re not there at all. “We did well at the Commonwealth Games. But as far as the world standards are concerned, we are far behind. We have to create . With the seriousness the government is putting into hosting the Olympics, in most likelihood, we will win the bid.
Talk about winning 30-40 medals, we’re far behind that goal,” Sodhi told PTI on Tuesday.
But then you have to start the culture,” he said.
