Lucknow: Proving that champions never lose their touch, former international long-distance runner and Arjuna awardee Rachna Govil made a golden return to competitive shooting after an 18-year hiatus, winning two gold medals in the 10m Air Pistol event at the 45th Zonal Shooting Championship in Dehradun on Aug 24, at the age of 65.The former international track-and-field athlete — who once dominated the grueling 1,500-metre and 3,000-metre long-distance tracks — has traded her running shoes for a pistol, to give a stellar performance in the Masters shooting category.Former ace long-distance runner, a pistol shooting champion and former regional director of SAI, Rachna Govil, who trains at the Shooting Academy at Bal Vidya Mandir, participated in the zonal championship and won two gold medals in 10m Air Pistol event in the 45-60 years and above 60 years age group.“I began shooting in 1997 but did not own a pistol at that time. I trained by borrowing weapons from fellow shooters, which affected my practice. Despite the challenges, I broke the national record in the open category in 1998 with a score of 381 out of 400, which was considered close to an Olympic-level score,” Govil told TOI.“The shooter whose pistol I used for training took it back after I defeated him in competition and broke the national record. I then stopped shooting for 10 years. I was trained under Balbir Singh in shooting and Anand Kumar was my coach in athletics,” she said.“I returned to the sport in 2007 after buying my own pistol. Within three to four months of resuming practice, I competed in the national championship in Ahmedabad, finished fourth in the qualification round and went on to win the gold medal in the open category final,” the Arjuna awardee said.Govil was later selected for the Champion of Champions event and was ranked second on the merit list, though she did not win a medal in the competition, which she said featured some of the strongest shooters.“In 2008, I competed in three World Championships in Munich, Milan and Beijing. After this, I got occupied with official responsibilities related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, hosted by India,” she said.After retirement, Govil moved to Lucknow and joined Bal Vidya Mandir Academy in Charbagh as a shooting coach. She then decided to resume competitive shooting and bought a Steyr Evo 10m Air Pistol.“After making a comeback after 18 years, I won two gold medals in the UP pre state competition, two gold at the UP state championship and two gold medals at the zonal level,” Govil said.Govil’s trainees at Bal Vidya Mandir Academy have also performed well. Seven students from Bal Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Lucknow, participated in the CBSE East Zone Shooting Championship 2026, held from Aug 8 to 11 at Millennium World School, Sultanpur.In the U-17 Air Pistol Team event, Anmol Gupta, Gurbeer Singh and Kushagra Shukla won bronze medal with a total score of 883 out of 1200.
