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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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
