Heena Sidhu Aims For Maiden Olympic Medal At Rio 2016
To be a World Record holder is no mean feat. Heena Sidhu became the first female Indian pistol shooter to be ranked World No.1 and held the finals record in 10-m Air pistol with a final score of 203.8 in 2014. She will aim for her maiden Olympic medal during the 2016 Rio Games
Name: Heena Sidhu
Age: 26 years
Sport: Shooting
Event: Women's 10m and 25m Air Pistol
About Heena Sidhu
Heena Sidhu has gone where no Indian shooter has travelled before. She entered the hall of fame in 2013 by becoming the first pistol exponent from India to win a gold at an ISSF World Cup Final, with a world record score.
A year earlier she had finished 12th in the air pistol qualification round at the London Olympics, which was the beginning of her Olympic journey. Heena told NDTV, "First Olympics is a learning experience. I was young and one goes through so many emotions when you're at your first Olympics. There were a lot of pressure, expectations too. I think I've learnt from that. All these 4 years we've been working on what I learnt from that experience. This Olympics I'm going to have a better chance of giving a better performance".
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The Olympic Gold Quest-supported shooter won her quota earlier this year at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Delhi. She led from start to finish at the event and claimed the gold medal. But her form has significantly dropped since then, unable to make a single World Cup final this year.
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However, the 27-year-old is banking on her ability to handle pressure at big events. Says Heena, "In the last Olympics I was paying a lot of attention to technical aspects because that's what needed grooming. But before going into this Olympics we're doing a lot of pressure training, a lot of distraction training because I know my technical side is taken care of."
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It is a chance for Heena to make history as no Indian woman shooter has ever won an individual medal at the Olympic games.