Paris 2024: Olympian Joydeep Karmakar appointed India’s rifle shooting coach
The 42-year-old Karmakar last represented India at an international event in 2014 but had never formally retired.
Joydeep Karmakar, a London 2012 Olympian, has been appointed as India’s new chief national rifle shooting coach until 2025 by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).
Karmakar will be in charge of preparing the Indian rifle shooters during the ongoing Olympic cycle, including the Paris Games in 2024.
“I could feel myself as an athlete now -- as if I'm gearing up to compete again, that same eagerness, passion is back again. It's a huge responsibility,” Joydeep Karmakar told PTI after his appointment. “It would be a lie if I would say I'm not nervous, as it's just a little more than two years to Paris.”
India saw an unprecedented 15 athletes qualify for the shooting events at Tokyo 2020. At the Games, however, Indian shooters, including top rifle marksmen like Divyansh Singh Panwar, Apurvi Chandela, Aishawry Pratap Singh and Elavenil Valarivan, returned empty-handed.
Interestingly the appointment also brought about a formal retirement announcement from the shooter, who last represented India in 2014.
“I did not formally announce my retirement from the sport. But after receiving the confirmation of my appointment as the chief coach, I have decided to bring curtains on my career as a shooter,” Joydeep Karmakar stated.
An Arjuna Awardee, Joydeep Karmakar is remembered for his memorable run in the men’s 50m rifle prone event at the 2012 London Olympics. The shooter from Bengal made it to the final round but eventually finished fourth, just 1.9 points behind bronze medallist Rajmond Debevec of Slovenia.
Joydeep Karmakar also won a silver medal in the prone event at an ISSF World Cup in 2010 and has held several Asian records during his playing days.
In 2015, he set up the Joydeep Karmakar Shooting Academy (JSKA) in Bengal and has dedicated himself towards moulding future shooters. Mehuli Ghosh, who won silver medals at the 2018 Youth Olympics and Commonwealth Games, has been mentored by Karmakar.
Joydeep Karmakar joined the national camp in Delhi on May 1. His first challenge as the national coach will be the ISSF World Cup in Baku to be held from May 27 to June 7.