How 'love for the sport' spurred Elavenil Valarivan even in darkest hours
After missing out on a final spot in 10m air rifle, the shooter will give it all in the mixed team event with Divyansh Singh Panwar
Elavenil Valarivan finished in the 28th spot in her first international competition in the Czech Republic in 2017. It was a major disappointment. She has given her all in training in the run-up to the competition and yet fell short by miles. However, not being able to qualify for the final round, taught her an important life lesson.
"You must be patient, things will happen and it takes time. In 2014 I started shooting professionally, and in 2019 I became world no.1. You have to go through a lot," narrated the shooter to Olympics.com.
There were even days when she felt like quitting after not being able to elevate herself to the next level.
"In 2015-16 it all felt so stagnant and I was like I can't do it anymore. I was shooting the same scores and I was neither improving nor doing badly. I was really frustrated."
She even had a thought to go back to college and pursue a regular course, away from the rifle, the range, and bullets. However, she hung on.
"The love for the game was too much. I don't remember spending even a single day without my rifle since I took to shooting."
"The love for the game' - something that drives an athlete in the darkest of days. It now may seem astonishing that when Valarivan was introduced to the sport, she found it boring and it was only because of her father's insistence that she started to shoot in the first place. However, once getting her first rifle was a tough job.
"There was a lot of discussion in my house when I told my parents that I think it is time to have my personal rifle. We didn't have any financial issues as such but putting INR 3 Lakhs into something was also too much. They had their doubts.
"But my coach then convinced them that it will be a good investment as she has it in her to make it big. In October 2015, we paid the amount and in 2016 January I got my own rifle. I started sleeping with it after I got the weapon," she laughed.
Preparing for the Olympics
Valarivan did not have a good outing at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi that was held in March. However, in the European Championship in Osijek, Croatia in May she shot 630.4 in the MQS (Minimum Qualification Score) section. (Will add a line on Croatia World Cup).
The Chennai-born shooter does not have any expectations from her.
"I don't want to make it a big thing for me. I have been preparing for it for some time now and you just want to go there and give your best. The most important thing is to be happy and enjoy the process. If I set a target then it would be more of putting pressure on myself," she reasoned.
It is exactly this trait that inspires confience that after her disappointment in the 10m air rifle on Saturday morning at Tokyo 2020, she will be doubly focused on changing her fortunes. And her first aim will be a podium finish in the mixed 10m air rifle event, where she partners Divyansh Singh Panwar, on July 27.