Commonwealth Games: The countdown for Commonwealth Games 2026 has started. This mega sports event is going to start from 23rd July in the beautiful city of Glasgow, Scotland. This time India will enter the field with a strong contingent of 126 athletes with the intention of topping the medal table. Since participating in these games for the first time in 1934, India has won a total of 564 medals. In this glorious and historic journey, the personal record of winning the most medals for India is in the name of the country’s great pistol shooter Jaspal Rana, who passed away recently.
Won a total of 15 medals in 4 Commonwealth Games
Jaspal Rana has been India’s most successful athlete in the history of the Commonwealth Games. He participated in a total of four Commonwealth Games from 1994 to 2006 and won a total of 15 medals during this period. Till date no other Indian athlete has been able to touch this figure. The 15 medals won by Jaspal Rana include 9 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze medals.
Jaspal Rana’s entire journey of winning the medal
- 1994 Colombia: Jaspal Rana proved his talent in his debut Commonwealth Games. He won silver in 10 meter air pistol and bronze in pair event. At the same time, Center Fire Pistol had made a golden start by winning gold medals in both individual and pair events.
- 1998 Malaysia: In this edition, he won silver medals in both individual and pair events of 10 meter air pistol. Along with this, he again won the gold medal in both individual and pair competitions of men’s center fire pistol.
- 2002 Manchester: The year 2002 proved to be the most memorable Commonwealth Games in Jaspal Rana’s career. He won bronze in 10 meter air pistol and silver in pairs. After this, he won a total of 4 gold medals in individual and pair events of 25 meter pistol and individual and pair events of center fire pistol.
- 2006 Melbourne: In his last Commonwealth Games, Jaspal Rana won the bronze medal in the men’s center fire pistol event and with this ended his Commonwealth Games career.
Died due to heart attack
Last month, on June 12, Jaspal Rana died due to a heart attack. While returning with the Indian shooting team from the ISSF World Cup held in Munich, Germany, he fell ill during the flight itself. As soon as the plane landed in New Delhi, he was immediately taken to the hospital, where doctors performed a heart surgery to remove the blockage in his heart. However, he died on June 12, just a few days after the procedure. He was also the personal coach of Indian star shooter Manu Bhaker in the Paris Olympics and under his guidance Manu won two bronze medals for the country.
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