When you’re shooting at the Olympics, there’s a lot at stake, and just about anything can go wrong. The first hurdle to a medal is making it to the final of an event, and then the next one is — to counter the pressure of 1.4 billion people, at least that’s true in the case of Indians. The pressure of expectations is what costs them dear, and there is no preparation that’s enough for the shooters, to deal with that pressure. That was evident with the way the 10m air rifle final panned out, where Arjun Babuta gave up his pole position, to finish fourth.
Arjun Babuta Falters Under Immense Pressure
Arjun Babuta had qualified seventh in the event, for the final, and ever since he made the cut, an average Indian sports follower was only interested in knowing, if he could get a medal for the country. And when it mattered the most, he couldn’t deliver. While the top 3 in the event — China’s Lihao Sheng, Sweden’s Victor Lindgren, and Croatia’s Miran Maricic shot to respective medals, Babuta succumbed to some low-scoring shots.
Paris Olympics 10m Air Rifle Final, As It Happened
For the longest time during the final, Babuta was in the second position. But his 13th shot of 9.9 meant, he started to dip considerably, and seemed to lose his confidence. He recovered a bit with a 14th shot, where he got 10.6, but the 15th again was a miserable 10.2. At that point, from second, he had dropped to third.
Come the 18th, a 10.1 meant he had to fight for the bronze medal now. But then the following scores of 10.5 and 9.5 had sealed his fate, where he would go on to join the long list of Indian athletes, who finished fourth at the Olympics.
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