'Wheels turning to bridge gender gap,' says coach Suma Shirur as India shoots down first medal at Paris Games

A 20-year-long pursuit cameto an end after Manu Bhaker won a bronze, on Sunday (July 28)in the 10m air pistol shooting event at the ongoing Paris Olympic 2024. She is the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal in shooting. In the 2004 Athens Olympics, it was Suma Shirur who made headlines after qualifying for the women's final in the 10m air rifle shooting event. She, however, finished eighth in the medal round. This year, the shooting contingent already has one medal in their kitty and Ramita Jindal finished in seventh place in the 10m air rifle event on Monday (July 29).

WION spoke to Suma Shirur, chief coach of the rifle team, on what took a woman so long to qualify and bring home a medal. "I wouldn't call it a lack of facilities but I guess it’s more the overall growth of the system. Though women have been doing well in other events, in the Olympics, something or the other has eluded them. I am happy that Manu not only qualified but brought home a medal and Ramita and Arjun Babuta have also qualified for the final."

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(Image: Shooting coach Suma Shirur with Ramita Jindal. Credit:@DiggySinghDeo).

Speaking on the country's sporting culture, Shirur emphasises thatIndia still lacks on this front as not enough athletes take up sports after school and university level, which creates a gap in the community. “From the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) standpoint, they are moving towards gender parity with equal number of events for men and women. As a society, it has taken its own course of time, yes, it has been a struggle, but a lot is being done to bridge this gap. There is always room for improvement, the wheels are turning and it's always about doing better.”

Shirur says, it all boils down to having more people pursuing sports as a career, more participation, and subsequently reaching high levels of achievement.