Our shooters have to bank on inner strength: Rajyavardhan Rathore

Athens Olympics silver medalist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore recalls the challenges on his way to glory at Athens, analyses the chances of Indian shooters in London and advices the medal contenders not to follow the 'result'. Excerpts:
You have made Indian shooters believe that they can gun for glory. How difficult was it to win the mental battle in Athens?
The sense in the environment then was that we as Indians cannot win and all of us, that is the sportsman, the media, the sporting bodies and the nation had myriad justifications or reasons for this.The Olympic sportsperson then was not a celebrated icon. At that point I remember one of my distant relatives advising me against sports by saying, 'you will at best be living on baksheesh', such was the defeatist environment then and may be I was not the only athlete hearing this. Perhaps these were exactly the reasons which challenged me to win at the Olympics. Though many a times I thought I had bitten more then I could chew but that die hard spirit, the will to never accept defeat, the training and combat experience of the army, would kick in a renewed energy to prove our worth as nation.
Can you briefly recap the road to silver?
Putting the struggle of six years in a few words is unfair both to me, to you and to the future sportspersons. In a nut shell; 99.9% people doubted me even before I began, I had tremendous confidence which was shaken to the roots many a times, words of sympathy seemed rather hurtful as if justifying our incompetence, my goals were laughed at, my training plans rejected without a second glance, there seemed no system, no ray of light. Yet, in these dark alleys, I learnt some of my best lessons in life, it introduced me to the person inside me which could be at times so powerful. I learnt to use these moments which came fleetingly to me. I was the world No. 1, in Jan 2004, the world No. 3 for the complete year of 2003, I had to be amongst the best at the Olympics 2004, this was my thought. Sometimes I sensed victories before I walked into the field and as Olympics came closer, I literal ly owned the arena, that was the sense of confidence.
How do you rate Indian shooters' chances in London?
Skill wise, top class. They have the best funding ever, from 2009 to 2012. But there is a difference between skill and performance. Skill is physical, performance is mental. Now at the biggest stage of competition that Olympics is, the shooters will have to bank on their inner strength. Some of them have the capability to win us a medal.
You have contested many a battle in adverse weather. Will it be a decisive factor in making or breaking our shooters' chances in London?
The 10m shooting events, pistol and rifle are in a totally enclosed environment with controlled temperature and lighting. The 25m and 50m are in semi enclosed environment. It's the flying target events, the trap and double trap that are affected by all elements of weather. But then August is fair weather in London. I do not feel weather would have much bearing on shooting performance at the London Olympics. Remember, one of India's best performance of 20 gold medals in the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002 came in the month of July/August.
What will be your advice to the medal contenders in the Indian contingent?
This is your day, it's your range, you are at your best, trust your training, give everything that you have, every step of the way. The 'result' will follow YOU, you don't follow 'result'.
Eight years after your triumph, do you think that there has been enough improvement in our preparations? Or if there is long way to go what should be the immediate priority.
Yes and no. We have moved miles ahead in certain aspects, the government has been our steadfast supporter. The corporates have joined in. The number of shooters have increased remarkably. India could be a shooting sporting power waiting to happen. The federation has a mighty role to play.