New Delhi: As far as sporting fairytales go, Adriana Ruano’s journey presents itself as a blockbuster. A promising gymnastics career nipped in the bud due to injury, a stint as a volunteer at the 2016 Rio Olympics that rekindled her competitive fire, losing her father just before the Tokyo Games before bouncing back as her country’s first-ever gold medallist at the Paris Olympics, Ruano’s life has followed an inspiring arc.
Little wonder then that the trap shooter uses words such as “blessing” and “grateful” liberally in the conversation. It is as much a mark of her grace as her gratitude that the lone Olympics gold medallist from Guatemala wears her achievements lightly, even though the magnitude of what she did at the Chateauroux Shooting Range is neither lost on her nor on her football-mad homeland.
“Oh, they put up a show for us. It was so overwhelming,” Ruano says of the rousing reception she and fellow trap shooter Jean Pierre Brol, who won bronze in the men’s event, received upon arriving home. Feted by the government, pursued by the media and loved by the people, the two became overnight celebrities in the central American nation.
“Shooting is not the No.1 sport in my country, so for us to get the celebrity treatment was a little unusual,” she laughs. Ruano, who set the Olympic record en route her gold on Paris, took a two-month break from shooting to fulfil media commitments and a spate of felicitations before heading to Italy last week to begin preparations for the World Cup Finals in New Delhi.
“My goal in Delhi will be to just enjoy my shooting. I have had very little time to prepare, so I am keeping my expectations in check,” she says.
Ruano planned her peak for Paris through a carefully curated two-month programme. The mentally draining process culminated in a historic gold but also left her exhausted.
“It’s important to take a break between competitions and rediscover your love for the game. I couldn’t get much of a breather post Paris, which is why I want to shoot without any expectations in India.
“Ideally, I would have liked the two elite competitions (Olympics and World Cup Finals) to be spaced out a little to allow us some time to practice and peak.”
The year-end competition also marks the beginning of the Los Angeles 2028 cycle and Ruano will be looking to start on a positive note.
“The Paris cycle was of three years but LA 2028 will be a regular four-year build-up. I am the kind of athlete who likes to take the step-by-step approach; so while LA will always be on the horizon, every tournament leading up to it will be important.”
Ruano’s build-up for the next phase will also involve a change of weapons — she will move on from her trusted Beretta to a Perazzi next year. “Now is the time to experiment and figure out what’s best. The journey to retain my Paris crown begins now,” she says.
That said, her medal has already started to bring tangible results for shooting back home. Up until Ruano shot Olympic gold, Guatemala had a single shooting range. Her success has spurred the government into action.
“Quite a few shooting ranges are coming up now, each having facilities for trap and skeet, apart from rifle and pistol lanes. I am also told that a lot of youngsters have shown interest in shooting after the Olympics, which is again a good sign. It all appears a dream, to be honest.
“My life’s journey has taught me that eventually everything leads to your life’s goals. I dreamt of competing at the Olympics when I was training as a gymnast, and here I am.”
