By Amlan Chakraborty, Reuters
Georgia's Nino Salukvadze (R) and Serbia's Jasmina Milovanovic compete in the women's 10m air pistol qualification during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Asaka Shooting Range in the Nerima district of Tokyo on July 25, 2021. Photo: AFP / TAUSEEF MUSTAFA
Nino Salukvadze will become just the second athlete to compete at 10 Olympic Games when she steps up to the mark in Paris and the Georgian shooting great says that by reaching the milestone she will have fulfilled her father's last request.
Salukvadze's dream Olympic debut came as a 19-year-old at the 1988 Games in Seoul, where she won gold in the 25 metre pistol and silver in the 10 metre event for the former Soviet Union.
Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Athens, Beijing, London, Rio and Tokyo - she has not missed an Olympics since.
Salukvadze completed her medal set by winning 10 metre bronze in Beijing, this time for Georgia, and the 55-year-old will match Canadian equestrian Ian Millar's record of 10 Olympic appearances when she competes in Paris.
"Ten Olympiads - it's my whole life," Salukvadze told Reuters from Baku where she is in the final stages of her Olympic preparations.
"After the first Olympics, I couldn't even imagine I'd compete in 10 Olympics.
"I will have to write a whole book (to explain my longevity), but the euphoria I experienced after winning forced me to train hard every day."
That book will surely have a chapter devoted to her father Vakhtang, who coached her right from the start.
Her Rio experience, where she and Tsotne Machavariani became the first mother-son duo to compete at the same Olympics, would also feature prominently in it.
But there were times when it seemed the Tokyo Olympics would be the end of her story.
"After Tokyo, I'd decided to give up," she said. "But my father, who was 93, told me, 'There are only three years before Paris, and maybe you try to win the quota ...'
"I thought my father had never asked for anything and this might be his last request. So I gathered all my strength and agreed.
"Today, despite the fact that my father passed away, I am happy that I fulfilled this request."
Her son put the pressure on, too.
"Also, my son threatened me: 'If you surrender, I will also surrender ...'"
Beijing memories
Salukvadze has vivid memories from competing at the Games.
She remembers being showered with gifts by fans in Seoul, competing alongside her son in Rio, and witnessing how Tokyo defied a pandemic to salvage an Olympics.
But the 2008 Olympics stood out for a different reason.
On the opening day of the Games war broke between Georgia and Russia. Despite the conflict between their two countries, Salukvadze embraced Russian rival Natalia Paderina on the podium.
"Every Olympic is memorable in its own way but I'd single out Beijing," said Salukvadze.
"The Olympic Games were created to establish peace between warring city states, where slaves and masters lived together for a month and enjoyed the same rights.
"That's why you were shocked when, on the opening day of the Games, a war broke out in my country. I could not imagine this."
For Paris Games, the shooting events will be held 270km to the north in Chateauroux and Salukvadze says moving them away from the main venue cluster goes against that spirit of togetherness.
"I feel a little sad that we will not be in the Olympic Village in Paris. These Olympic Games are held more like a championship," she said.
"The essence of the Olympics is that everyone should live together during that one month."
- Reuters