At 55, Georgian shooter shows up at record 10th straight Olympics to fulfil father's last wish
Chateauroux (France) (PTI): Nino Salukvadze had all but decided to bid adieu to her pistol after nine Olympic appearances, which yielded three medals, until she lost her father, whose "last wish" pushed her to compete in an unprecedented 10th Games.
The 55-year-old, who was Georgia's flagbearer at the opening ceremony, became the first woman and only the second athlete overall after Equestrian show jumper Ian Millar to compete in a 10th consecutive Summer Games.
Her first two Olympic medals, a gold and silver in 25m pistol and 10m air pistol, came in the 1988 Games in Seoul where she represented the USSR before she completed the set with a bronze for Georgia 20 years later in Beijing.
Salukvadze said she found the resolve to give it another shot here here when she recalled her father Vakhtang Salukvadze's words, which to her, seemed like a final wish.
"He never asked me for anything, so I think maybe it was his last wish," said the veteran, who will be competing in the 25m pistol qualifications on Friday.
Stunningly, she stills holds the junior world record in this event. She touched that landmark in 1989 and it has only been equalled by India's Manu Bhaker, who is putting on quite a show here with bronze medals in 10m air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team events.
While the 22-year-old Bhaker is revelling in her newfound stardom and rise in stature, Salukvadze is enjoying her swansong.
Battling issues with her right eye, the veteran is certain that she is in the middle of her Olympic farewell.
"After Tokyo I thought I had finished, but my father, who was my coach – he died this year – told me, 'Maybe you will cry (if you don't carry on)'. It is only three years, not four years (since Tokyo 2020)," she recalled.
"I thought 'Ok, I will try'. He was a very good coach because our sport is very psychological. Now it is a competition with my mind."
Salukvadze is a role model back home and also a perfect ambassador of global sports fraternity. During the Beijing Games, she made quite a statement by giving a friendly peck to Russian silver-medallist Natalia Paderina on the podium despite their countries being at war with each other.
Besides her father's wish, Salukvadze wanted to be present at the Paris Olympics to also push for gender equality.
"When I was told I had a quota place representing Georgia, I wanted to take this pistol and throw it into the air. Only one man has ever done this before -- a horse rider from Canada -- so maybe this is good for women's equality," she said.
She also had the pleasure of representing Georgia with her son Tsotne Machavariani, also a pistol shooter, at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
She was all set to retire after becoming the first woman to feature at nine Games at Tokyo 2020 before having a change of heart.
"Maybe if I had taken two golds in my first Olympic Games, maybe I don't continue...who knows. But this is my last one. It will be very difficult for me, I'm sure. I had a problem with my right eye.
"In normal life it is not a problem, but for my sport, I need to focus for longer, and that gets harder with age," said Salukvadze.
She will be turning up one final time here for the 25m event alongside Bhaker on Friday.
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Chamoli hydropower tunnel train collision: 88 injured, magisterial probe ordered
Gopeshwar/Dehradun (PTI): Chamoli District Magistrate Gaurav Kumar on Wednesday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the collision between two loco trains inside the Pipalkoti tunnel of the under-construction Vishnugad-Pipalkoti hydropower project, which left 88 people injured.
Earlier in the day, Kumar said that the accident occurred around 8.30 pm on Tuesday at the TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) site inside the tunnel being built by THDC (India).
A loco train carrying workers for tunnel excavation during the night shift was about two kilometres inside the tunnel when another loco train coming from the opposite direction lost control and collided with it.
One of the trains had workers and officials on board, while the other carried material.
Upon receiving information about the collision, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered proper treatment for the injured. He spoke to the DM over the phone and instructed him to ensure that all the injured receive the best possible medical facilities.
DM Kumar and Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar met the injured at the Gopeshwar District Hospital.
Kumar said 109 people were on board the loco train at the time of the accident, most of them labourers. None of the injured was serious, he said.
He said that 88 of them were injured, although none of them are in serious condition. They said that 84 workers were discharged after receiving first aid, while four are still hospitalized.
DM Kumar and SP Panwar also inspected the project site and sought detailed information about the incident from the project officials.
They instructed them to strictly implement all necessary safety standards to prevent a recurrence of such an incident in the future.
After inspection, the DM issued orders for a magisterial inquiry into the accident caused by the collision of the loco trains.
Meanwhile, the Railways said the trains involved in the collision had no connection with it.
"It is clarified that this unfortunate incident occurred in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, involving a trolley used in the local transportation system during the construction of a hydroelectric project tunnel. The train referred to in the news reports is not an Indian Railways train, but a transportation system being used locally by the project team," the government entity said in a statement.
According to officials, rail-like vehicles are used to transport workers, employees, and materials for construction work inside the tunnel.
The project, being built between Helang and Pipalkoti on the Alaknanda River, will generate 444 megawatts of electricity through four turbines. The project is targeted for completion by next year.
