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 2024 Paris Olympics, which begins on July 26, Talat will compete in the 10m air pistol and 25m pistol, aiming to achieve glory overseas and shatter stereotypes at home.
Modesty codes that discourage women from participating in sports have diminished the country’s medal prospects.
Talat, 21, comes from a military family and is the first Pakistani woman to qualify for Olympic shooting.
“In Pakistan, there is a widespread taboo that girls should stay at home and do girly things and play with dolls, and boys should play with guns,” she said.
“I don’t see anyone as a competitor. I compete with myself,” she said. AFP At a shooting range in the eastern city of Jhelum.
“I wanted to do more.”
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.
The country has only won 10 Olympic medals (all men’s) in its history, and none 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.
“I was craving recognition. I wanted to do more,” she said.
“Whenever the shooting incident was discussed or the name of ‘Kishmala’ was mentioned, I wanted it to be associated with someone who had done something great for Pakistan.”
She is trying to overcome the adversity by training 10 hours a day – an hour of exercise 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.
“I will try to perform at my best to bring glory to the name of 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.
Target shooting is not a popular sport in Pakistan.
Cricket is by far the most popular pastime, but all sports suffer from chronic underfunding.
However, guns are ubiquitous throughout the country.
In 2017, the Swiss arms research group Small Arms Survey estimated that there were around 44 million firearms in legal or illegal possession of civilians in Pakistan.
This figure is the fourth highest in the world, amounting to 22 weapons for every 100 people in a country of more than 240 million people.
“City of Martyrs”
Tallaght’s talents were nurtured by the world’s sixth largest military, with a huge budget that allows it to run ski slopes, polo fields and climbing schools.
Talat is being trained by officers and foreign coaches at a military installation in Jhelum, known as the “city of martyrs” for its strong military ties, although she hails from the army’s headquarters in Rawalpindi.
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 since getting married, it makes me 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.”
