A sportsman’s life is full of challenges. Mine has been an eventful journey too with its share of ups and downs. In 1998, when I decided on shooting as a career, I had to run from pillar to post to get my arms and ammunition licence, which requires the approval of a senior police officer. I remember sitting outside a cop’s office for several hours, refusing to leave till I got my licence. The officer finally relented and not only handed me the licence but complimented me on my perseverance.

During my early days in the sport, I couldn’t afford a coach. I recall a day in 2002 when I was practicing at a shooting range abroad. I watched a Kuwaiti shooter being trained by his coach, who was pushing him to execute a perfect shot. So, I conjured up a hypothetical coach in my head, who’d constantly push me to fire a perfect shot. This paid off and the same year I shot 50/50 in the first round of the World Cup. Later, in 2002, I won two gold medals — one each in the individual and in the team challenge category at the Manchester Commonwealth Games. I also set a yet-to-be-broken record in the individual category by scoring 192 out of 200. The highlight of my career was the silver medal I won at the 2004 Athens Oly-mpics. It changed the course of my life and also inspired the youth of India to take up shooting as a career.

The major setback for me, though, was being unceremoniously dropped from the squad for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The manner in which I was kept out despite my achievements hit me so hard that I contemplated quitting the sport altogether. That’s when I got an e-mail from Anthony Robbins, a motivational speaker, in which he said that it wasn’t the conditions but the decisions that one makes in those conditions that determine a person’s success. I enlarged the mail, had it framed and now keep it in my room for inspiration.

(As told to Anupma Tripathi)