Gagan Narang: We will continue to stand by Elavenil Valarivan through thick and thin
Elavenil Valarivan couldn’t make it into the finals of the 10m Air Rifle women’s event
Elavenil Valarivan and Apurvi Chandela finished 16th (626.5) and 36th (621.9) respectively after six series of 10 shots in the 10m Air Rifle women’s qualification event at Tokyo 2020. Only the top eight made it into the final round.
Gagan Narang, who has had the experience of participating in four Olympic Games, stood by Valarivan and spoke on how focussed she is on achieving her goals. The 21-year-old shooter has trained at Narang’s Gun for Glory (GFG) academy and has been earmarked as one of the possible medal winners for future.
Valarivan will be back in action on July 27th in the mixed Air Rifle event alongside Divyansh Singh Panwar hoping to make up for the disappointment in the 10m Air Rifle women’s qualification.
“Her desire to perform stands out the most. She is willing to do what it takes and sacrifice. She can give up on her favourite food or give up habits that were counter-productive, like not sleeping on time. She is a very dedicated athlete. It is necessary for any coach, and she is very 'coachable.' That's what I found out while training her in Gun for Glory. We have put in a lot of effort and give her whatever was possible,” Narang told Olympics.com.
“We are proud to be associated with her. We are overwhelmed by her training methods and dedication to the sport. She is an out-and-out GFG-ian so to say. It is a great achievement (her competing at the Olympics) for the academy as well. The staff of the academy has been family to her,” he mentioned.
The London 2012 bronze medallist said that irrespective of the results at Tokyo 2020, his team will continue to back her given the prodigious talent she is.
“I hope she gives her best as her best will be good enough to win a medal. However, irrespective of whether she wins or not she will still be a prodigy for us and will stand by her through thick and thin,” he said.