"A lot has changed" - Tokyo experience in the bag, shooter Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar aims for Paris Olympics medal
Three years ago, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar was a 20-year-old who found himself under Olympics spotlight in Tokyo. He finds himself back in the same position ahead of the Paris Olympics but things have changed significantly for the younger shooter.
His journey, which began in Ratanpur, a small hamlet in the heart of the country (Madhya Pradesh), has seen him ascend the podium on many international stages. Be it the World Cup in Cairo, or the Asian Games in Hangzhou, he has done the country proud in the 50m Rifle Three Positions event.
Weeks ahead of the Paris Olympics, he hopes to do what no Indian shooter has done in the past two Olympics — come home with a medal wrapped around his neck.
The youngster sat down with Sportskeeda for an exclusive chat, detailing his preparations leading up to the sporting extravaganza and how his experience in Tokyo will come in handy as he heads to the world’s biggest stage again.
“It was my first experience at the Olympics in Tokyo and I had no clue about the amount of pressure and how to handle it. I had not even been shooting for that long and did not have the experience, but a lot has changed since. I know how to handle myself on the big stage and hopefully that will reflect in the results,” Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar says.
Tomar’s event stands distinct in terms of having shooters compete over a longer period in three different positions — kneeling, prone and standing. Understandably, it is more demanding and the youngster has been putting in the work, both physical and mental.
“It is important to have the right mindset. Sometimes you might not do well in one of the positions, but you have to be quick to bounce back and that requires a strong mentality. I have been learning to deal with setbacks and the more exposure I get, the more equipped I feel,” the youngster says.
Paris Olympics-bound Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar stays close to his roots
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar had a successful 2023, winning medals at the World Championships, World Cup and the Asian Games. At the last of the events, he set a world record with two other members of the Indian contingent — Swapnil Kusale and Akhil Sheoran— en route to the team gold.
Kusale will accompany him to the Paris Olympics, but there’s no team event in the competition. The feeling of traveling with a team, however, fuels Tomar.
“It is important to have that sort of competition and we are lucky that India has so many shooters competing at the highest level. During the qualification rounds, we are always pushing each other to do better but the final goal is always to ensure a medal for the country,” Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar says.
The extensive travel and busy competition schedule notwithstanding, the youngster stays close to his roots. His first memory of guns remains of his father out on a hunt. He picked up shooting after learning the basis from his cousin Navdeep Singh Rathore.
To this day, he trains with Navdeep in Bhopal when not traveling for competition.
“He is the first person I call when I do well in the competition. My parents have also been really supportive and I have been lucky in that sense,” he says.
Heading to the French capital, he is eyeing nothing short of a podium finish at the Paris Olympics. He had shot a 466.4 in the final during the Olympic selection trials back in February. The score is significant given that it is 0.3 points better than Jiri Privratsky’s current world record of 466.1.
“I’ve been shooting well in the lead-up. The goal is to finish on the podium, but more than that, I want to give my personal best at such a big stage,” he says.
A personal best, given the sort of form that he has been in of late, should be more than enough to land him a medal and end India's drought in shooting at the Olympics.