Eyes On The Gold: 20YO Pistol Shooter Rhythm Sangwan Marks Olympic Debut

With four world championship titles and four ISSF World Cup gold medals in her burgeoning career, 20-year-old Rhythm Sangwan is one of the rising stars in Indian shooting. The Indian pistol shooter will now make her Olympic debut in Paris in 2024. 

She hails from the Kalina village in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. From her formative years, Rhythm’s parents urged her to actively pursue sports. While she developed an interest in tennis, the youngster did not lean on her inclinations. Her father Narender Kumar, working as a police officer, aided in Rhythm's introduction of guns from an early age.

Sangwan embarks on her versatile journey from the very beginning

At 13, Rhythm had her first shooting experience when she visited the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range. Excited by the sounds of the rifles and bullets, the vehement teenager decided to take up the sport. A bronze medal at the 2024 Asian Shooting Championships helped her book a spot in the 21-member Indian Shooting Team for the Paris Olympics 2024. She is a pistol shooter featuring in the 10m air pistol and 25m air pistol events.

Mentored by Vinit Kumar who was her father’s acquaintance, Rhythm began her journey filled with tenacity towards becoming a fine markswoman. "On the first day of training, when I made her do shadow practice, she did not hesitate for even a second. Normally kids of that age want to shoot straightway with the pistol. It made me believe that the girl had a lot of patience and she has maintained that trait throughout her career. Whether it was regarding the pistol grip, wrist position, or elbow and arm posture, she has always followed it ardently," he told The Indian Express.

While for her, shooting initially was for fun, regular and persistent practice drove her toward maximising her results. Less than a year later, the player won three gold medals in the individual events at the 2017 National Shooting Championship while also bagging a women’s team silver in the 10m air pistol competition.

How Sangwan managed to become an All-rounder

Despite her success in the shooting range, Rhythm continued to excel academically too.“My parents have always said academics and sports should go hand-in-hand as one should not suffer for another and that is my aim. Of course, as my schedule keeps getting busier, I am getting less time to study, but I’m still managing," Rhythm said.

“Every athlete will tell you that the Olympics is the ultimate dream and I am not an exception, either,” Rhythm told The Quint. “Winning an Olympic gold will be the greatest achievement of my career", she adds.

The prodigy player had always been Inspired by Mary Kom who is an outstanding Olympic bronze-medal-winning Indian Boxer. Rhythm had always displayed academic and sporting excellence since the initial stages of her career. Moreover, alongside winning distinctive medals and during all the other ongoing hardships, Rhythm is also pursuing a degree in English literature.

The performer's success at the national championships in 2017 was the beginning of her stellar rise in the shooting ecosystem. In 2021, Rhythm won four junior World Championship gold medals - women’s 25m pistol team, 25m rapid fire mixed team, women’s air pistol team, and women’s 25m standard pistol. She also won two gold medals at the 2022 ISSF Junior Cup in Suhl, Germany, in the women’s 25m team events.

Rhythm made the podium at a senior international event for the first time in 2022. She returned with two gold medals at the 2022 ISSF World Cup in Cairo in October. The Indian markswoman had victoriously bagged silver and bronze at the Changwon World Cup earlier in the year. Not only this, but the unstoppable sports achiever added two more gold medals to her tally in 2023, one at the World Championships and one at the Cairo World Cup. She also won a silver medal at the Bhopal World Cup.

However, the highlights of her 2023 season came at the Asian Games and the World Championships. She bettered a 29-year-old world record in the women's 25m pistol event at the 2023 ISSF World Cup in Baku. Rhythm registered a score of 595 in the qualification round, bettering the previous world record of 594, set by Bulgarian shooter Diana Iorgova in 1994. Her score also broke the junior women's 25m pistol qualification record.

Later in the year, alongside Manu Bhaker and Esha Singh, Rhythm won the women’s 25m pistol team event gold medal at the Asian Games 2023 Hangzhou. With a bronze medal in the women’s 25m pistol event at the Asian Shooting Championships 2024, Rhythm obtained a record 16th quota for India in shooting at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

By marking her groundbreaking journey, Rhythm will feature in the women’s 10m air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team events in shooting in the Olympics.