Photo: Farouk Naeem. Video: Daniel de Carteret
Kishmala Talat slows her breathing, focuses on the center of the pistol’s sights and bids to become the first Pakistani woman to win an Olympic medal.
At the Paris Games, which begin on July 26, Talat will compete in the 10m air pistol and 25m pistol, aiming to achieve glory abroad and shatter stereotypes at home.
Pakistan’s medal prospects are marred by modesty codes that discourage women from participating in sport.
Talat, 21, comes from a military family and is the first Pakistani woman to compete in shooting at the Olympics.
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“In Pakistan, there is a widespread taboo that girls should stay at home, do girly things, play with dolls and boys should play with guns,” she said.
“I don’t see anyone as a competitor, I compete with myself,” she told AFP at a shooting range in the eastern city of Jhelum.
Talat has won dozens of medals at national level and four international medals, including Pakistan’s first ever shooting medal, a bronze, at last year’s Asian Games.
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Pakistan has only won 10 Olympic medals to date, all in the men’s category, and has not won a medal since the 1992 Olympics.
Realistically, Talat, who has just finished a university degree in communications, faces a tough challenge to stand on the podium in Paris.
According to the International Shooting Sport Federation, she is ranked 37th in the world in the 10-meter event and 41st in the 25-meter event.
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“I was craving recognition. I wanted to do more,” she said.
“Whenever the shooting incident was talked about or the word ‘Kishmala’ was mentioned, I wanted it to be associated with someone who had done something great for Pakistan.”
She is training 10 hours a day to overcome the adversity – an hour working out, followed by four hours each on the 10m and 25m ranges.
The final hour of the evening is spent meditating, focusing on the flickering candle flame to hone the zen mentality needed to find the target.
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“I will try to perform at my best to bring glory to Pakistan,” Talat said.
She poses for the photograph frozen, with one hand in her pocket and one eye covered by custom-made glasses, and with a disinterested expression.
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Target shooting is not a popular sport in Pakistan.
Cricket is by far the most popular pastime, but all sports suffer from chronic underfunding.
But in Pakistan, guns are everywhere.
The Swiss arms research group Small Arms Survey estimated in 2017 that there were around 44 million legal and illegal firearms in civilian ownership in Pakistan.
This figure is the fourth highest in the world, equating to 22 weapons for every 100 people in a country of over 240 million people.
Talat’s talents were nurtured by Pakistan’s military, the world’s sixth largest, with a vast budget that allows it to run ski slopes, polo fields and mountaineering schools.
Talaat is receiving training from officers and foreign coaches at a military installation in Jhelum, known as the “city of martyrs” for its strong ties to the army.
She is from Rawalpindi, the garrison city where the army is headquartered.
Her mother, Samina Yakub, 53, a major in the military nursing department, proudly displays her daughter’s numerous medals in the living room of their home.
Yakub once dreamed of competing himself.
“Though I’ve gotten busy now that I’m married, I feel happy to see my daughter moving forward towards my dreams,” she said.
“Girls should go ahead, observe and work hard, and parents should support them in that,” her mother said.
“She believes she can do anything. That’s just who she is.”
