Man Behind Manu Bhaker's Olympic Success With Whom She Had Massive Fallout

Former pistol great Jaspal Rana's obsession and single-minded dedication to the sport has been his hallmark all along his entire journey from the time he emerged on the scene as a precocious talent, annihilating junior records and winning a bagful of international medals. But the one piece of metal that was missing from his trophy cabinet was an Olympic medal. On Sunday, the Padma Shri awardee realised that dream when Manu Bhaker stood on the podium, the bronze sitting nicely on her neck and Jaspal clapping for her in the stands.

Jaspal, maverick even when he was stepping out of his teens, has always perennially been in the news on several counts -- be it staging multiple comebacks, trying to salvage his career even when wrinkles started cris-crossing his visage in his late 30s, fighting his own battle with the system or taking a plunge into politics.

That maverick attitude was all too evident when he won three gold medals despite running a 102 degrees fever during the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, a record which no Indian shooter has ever been able to break in the continental showpiece.

His long unkempt hair sticking to his face and sweat dripping as if somebody had emptied a bottle of water on him, he came out of the dope control centre in Doha and punched his fist in the air, just to show he is king.

Nearly 12 years before Doha, at the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games, he was only one of four Indians to win a gold in 25m centre-fire pistol, something that truly brought the idea to the fore that Indian shooters had the talent and could become world beaters with a bit of help from the government.

He was assisted in his journey by one of the then-leading pistol coaches in the world Tibor Gonczol, the late Hungarian expert who