Jitu Rai: 'I feel bad I let the country down'

"I have no problem that I didn’t make it. I feel bad for others that I let the country down. Everyone had faith in me that I would win the Olympic medal. The Army had supported me so well. I tried my best," said Jitu Rai, after failing to enter the 50m pistol final by two points.

Published : Aug 10, 2016 22:19 IST , Rio de Janeiro

Jitu Rai tried his best but couldn't enter the final of the 50m pistol event in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday.
Jitu Rai tried his best but couldn't enter the final of the 50m pistol event in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday.
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Jitu Rai tried his best but couldn't enter the final of the 50m pistol event in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday.

Jitu Rai showed the heart of a champion as he was honest in conceding that he felt bad for having let the country down.

"I have no problem that I didn’t make it. I feel bad for others that I let the country down. Everyone had faith in me that I would win the Olympic medal. The Army had supported me so well. I tried my best," said Jitu Rai, after failing to make the men's 50m pistol final by two points.

‘’When I released the shot I felt good. But when I saw the score, it was not good. Maybe I held the shot long. The longer you hold, the worse it gets. There was no time pressure, and I just wanted to shoot good," Jitu said, describing the 59th shot that fetched only seven points.

"I have everything. But I wanted this Olympic medal," he said.

He recalled that he had prepared well and was shooting the big scores like 570 during the training sessions. But the weather had changed for the worse on the day of the competition. There was rain and there was gloom. The gusts of wind, particularly strong during the last 10 minutes when five of the shooters had already confirmed their entry to the final, caused havoc.

As a young shooter in his first Olympics, Jitu has a lot of time to win that Olympic medal so dear to his heart. But, he shot back saying that the chance should have been grabbed then and there.

The much decorated Jitu will definitely win the Olympic medal some day.

But Indian sports cannot wait for that long and is looking out for the one who would break the jinx and win the country's first medal in Rio.

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