‘We are so proud of him’

‘‘He really fought well and climbed from the fifth position. The last round was great,’’ says Col Rathore, reliving the magic. ‘‘It is a great moment for us. We are so proud of him.’’

Waiting to speak to his son ‘‘at leisure’’, after all the congratulatory calls have stopped, Col Rathore recalls the day Rajyavardhan chose his target. ‘‘It was about four years back that he told us that he was going to give this a shot. He hasn’t looked back since.’’

As for the 9 Grenadiers, they have found another reason to pop more bubbly on August 26, their Raising Day.

Says Col Jai Singh, CO: ‘‘He has done a wonderful job and we are all celebrating. He has given us a golden gift just before we celebrate our Raising Day later this month. Absolutely marvellous.’’

‘‘Rathod is very disciplined and down to earth,’’ Singh adds. ‘‘He started a bit late, only in 1996, but has put in his best. He always replayed his matches and analysed his flaws. Everyone in the unit, including the jawans who served with him, always believed that an Olympic medal would come his way. It was our collective aim.’’

But then, being in the limelight is nothing new for Rathore, 34, who battled insurgency in the Kashmir Valley’s Hadwara Sector from 1994 to 1996. It was during his time there that the Battalion got a citation of excellence.

And when Army Chief N C Vij watched Rathore’s medal show on TV today, he wasted no time in sending his soldier a message of commendation.

Having graduated from the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in 1990, with a Sword or Honour, Rathore he was keen to join an armoured corps. But he finally settled on 9 Grenadiers, an infantry division, which his father once served.

And it was there that he started morphing into a sharpshooter.