The much awaited Paris Olympics are upon us as the Summer Games are about to go underway with Football and Rugby events starting from July, 24th and the Opening Ceremony on July, 26th. Heading into Paris, there are high expectations around the Indian Contingent as the Nation aims to bring home more than 10 Olympic medals.
India in its humble history of medals at Olympics have seen the birth of some of the biggest national heroes in the likes of Abhinav Bindra, PV Sindhu and Neeraj Chopra. However, there is a forgotten Olympic hero, a former Army Man that is till date India’s only ever Olympic Medal winner at a Pistols event in Summer Games. Know the story.
India’s Forgotten Olympic Hero
Vijay Kumar, shooter extraordinaire was born in Himachal Pradesh in August 1985 and hailed from an Army background as his father was an army-man himself.
Vijay Kumar’s fascination with guns since a young age meant that he enrolled himself in the Indian Army back in 2001, where he got the support and training to pursue Shooting as a sport. Post joining the Indian Army, Vijay Kumar was transferred to the Army Marksmanship Unit where he trained under coach Pavel Smirnov and began the rise of a National hero.
Vijay Kumar started making his mark in pistol shooting and found his sweet spot in the 25M Pistol event.
Despite two gold medals at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and a bronze at 2007 Asian Games, Vijay Kumar failed to make the cut for Beijing Olympics in 2008 as he missed out due to chicken pox.
But Vijay Kumar wasn’t someone who gave up so easily and soon began his comeback with a silver medal at the 2009 ISSF World Shooting Championship. With three Gold Medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games hosted in New Delhi, Vijay Kumar was ready for his first shot at Summer Games – London Olympics, 2012.
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Shot At Glory
At the London Olympics in 2012, Vijay Kumar announced himself to the competitors by shooting 585 out of 600 in the 25M Rapid Fire Pistol event and qualified for the six member final round.
Vijay Kumar had maintained his nerve and hit top form in the finals as he made it to the 7th round in solid medal contention. In a thrilling 7th round, Vijay Kumar secured at least a silver medal to beat China’s Ding Feng by scoring a four in compared to Feng’s three.
Vijay Kumar missed out on Gold as Cuba’s Leuris Pupo managed to outscore Kumar in the final round. However, a Silver Medal for Kumar in his Olympic debut for India meant he would become the nation’s first Olympic Medalist at a Pistol event in the Summer Games.
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Back in the shadows
Vijay Kumar became a national hero with his triumph at London Olympics and became a Subedar Major in the Indian Army. However, he decided to fall back into the Oblivion and left the Indian Army to join Himachal Pradesh Police as a DSP in 2017 and further pursue his studies.
However, India’s failure to win an Olympic medal in shooting at Tokyo 2020 spurred a fire inside Vijay Kumar and he returned to the sport with the 2022 National Games. Vijay Kumar attempted to qualify for Paris Olympics 38 years of age but could not make the cut.
Vijay Kumar’s tale has been one of India’s brightest stars at Paris Olympics and he has been honoured with the Padma Shri and Arjuna Award for shooting. A glorious career that went into oblivion, Vijay Kumar is worthy of more recognition given what he’s achieved for his country at the biggest stage imaginable.
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