New Delhi: Shooter Saurabh Chaudhary is the only Indian to make the TIME Magazine list for ‘athletes to watch out for at the Tokyo Olympics’. The 19-year-old is one of the prime medal contenders for India with his performance in recent years having won eight World Cup gold medals so far.
The list, which has 48 elite sportspersons from across the globe, has big names like gymnast Simone Biles, sprinters Allyson Felix, Noah Lyles and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, long-distance runner Eliud Kipchoge, swimmers Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky and NBA star Kevin Durant among others.
“Marksman Saurabh Chaudhary, 19, is one of India’s best shots at gold in Tokyo. Having only taken up shooting in 2015, he has accumulated an impressive haul of medals: 14 gold and six silver in international competitions. In 2018, he became India’s youngest gold medalist at the Asian Games,” the magazine wrote about Chaudhary.
“A year later, Chaudhary set a new junior and senior world record in the 10m air pistol category at the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup, securing his spot on India’s 15-member shooting team in Tokyo. There, he’ll also pair with Manu Bhaker to form a top contender in the mixed team competition,” the magazine further added.
Chaudhary is currently training at the Indian shooting contingent’s European base in Zagreb, Croatia. The contingent will leave for Tokyo from Zagreb on July 16, with the shooting competition in Tokyo beginning on July 24.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Chaudhary will be seen competing in two different events – men’s 10m air pistol and mixed 10m air pistol alongside another teen shooter Manu Bhaker.
