Renowned Indian shooter Jaspal Rana, a multiple gold medalist, passes away at 49

Terrible moment for Indian shooting and Indian sport. Renowned former shooter Jaspal Rana breathed his last on Thursday night, just days before his 50th birthday.

Born in Uttarakhand on June 28, 1976, Rana brought India a lot of laurels. He participated in pistol events and in all, won 15 gold medals in high-quality events. To break it down, he won 4 Asian Games gold, 9 Commonwealth Games gold, one Asian Championships gold and one World Junior Championships gold from 1994 to 2006.

Rana was a shooting prodigy. Just at the age of 12, he won a silver on his national debut at the National Shooting Championship in Ahmedabad. That was the year 1988. Six years later, he tasted his first major international success at the World Shooting Championship (junior) in Italy with a world record score.

From 1994 to 2006, Rana won many medals for India all over the world. Rana was a soft-spoken person, and listening to him speak was sheer pleasure. He was a calm personality who believed in getting the work done in a quiet manner, without any fuss.

In a glittering career, there was, however, one blemish: that he could never win an Olympic medal. He participated in two events at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He finished 29th in 10m air pistol and 45th in 50m free pistol. Rana often regretted having not done well at the Olympics.

Rana also grabbed a few important awards given by the Indian government. He won the Arjuna Award in 1994. Three years later, at the age of 21, he also won the Padma Shri. In 2020, Rana was given the Dronacharya Award, the country's biggest award for coaches.

Rana also dabbled in politics for a while. He contested for the BJP in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, but unlike his career in sport, he ended up on the losing side. A few years later, he joined the Congress party. Eventually, he returned to shooting to coach the up-and-coming.

Rana was a giant figure in Indian sports. He plied his trade at a time when India as a nation was desperate to make its mark at the international level on many sporting fronts. Today, when Rana is not among us anymore, the country is doing so much better. Rana has played his role to a tee in that progression; let's not forget that. His contribution to Indian shooting and Indian sport at large is immeasurable. His sudden death is a big loss.