PUNE: After firing blanks in the 2016 and 2020 editions, Indian shooters finally came back with three bronze medals from Paris. Six finalists and a few more finishing in top-12 from a contingent of highest-ever 21 shooters, the performance was well above-par.
Legendary German shooting coach Heinz Reinkemeier believes Indian shooters had more than a good outing in Chateauroux. "The obsession for medals must go. Indians have become like that kid who always cries for chocolates. India should be happy for the performance of their shooters," Heinz, who had trained Abhinav Bindra before he won gold at Beijing in 2008, told TOI on Sunday. "Look at the German shooting contingent if you want to talk about disappointment and disaster," he said. The German shooters had won quotas in 13 events but couldn't win even one medal.
"There were five No. 1s and we have more than a million shooters in Germany, but they couldn't win in Paris. Indians should learn to be happy. You should be proud of the way Ramita and Babuta (Arjun) shot. Shooting is a 140-nation sport and to get three medals is a good achievement," he added.
China and Korea topped the medals tally in shooting with 10 (5 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze) and 6 (3 gold, 3 silver) respectively. "If you want to win like China, then start treating your shooters like horses. There is a thing called humanity and I have seen how Chinese athletes get treated by their own country," the German said. "The Indian lot was mentally fit and had nice technique, not just in air events, but also in 50m rifle 3 positions, where Swapnil won a bronze," Heinz said.
Now it's on the shooters to improve their performances and turn the close-finishes into medals at Los Angeles 2028.
SHOOTING: ATHLETES: 21 | MEDALS: 3 BRONZE
