There had been 30 minutes since the end of the men’s centre fire pistol heats of the World Military Games, in Rio, and none of the other athletes from Ukrainian delegation had any idea of where Oleksandr Petriv was. The event’s organisation didn’t have either. Advisor and athletes from other countries’ delegations had no clue. No sign of him, at any competition range.

Thirty minutes before, Petriv had seated and leaned against the wall on the last step of the bleachers of the sole empty range in the National Shooting Centre. Alone, quiet, he made notes in a small notepad for five minutes, put it into his backpack and closed his eyes. Minutes later, he came out from his own world, peeled a banana and authorised the reporter to come closer him.

“I was analysing my gunshots from thirty minutes ago. I need to be by myself and make my own analyses, right after shooting, in my notepad. It is very important for the next competition”, explains the friendly marksman at 37 years old, current Olympic champion and record holder in the 25m rapid fire pistol.

Soviet tradition

Born in Lviv, Ukraine extreme west city with 750 thousand inhabitants, on the border between Ukraine and Poland, he was born looking to the Soviet Union flag. The first influences came from the tradition of the old power. The passion for the sport didn’t take long to happen.

“In the old Soviet Union, Shooting was a very traditional sport, very popular, mainly because of defence issues. It was Cold War at that time. I started shooting because the range was near my home, my school, and I loved guns, I loved to practice. I was 12 years old, it was very interesting to boys, very entertaining. It was a sport school to children located five minutes from my school by foot. There were many like this in the country”, he recalls.

After curiosity was activated, the infantile excitement was bit by bit turning into coldness and focus at adult age. Till he gets to the Olympic podium in Beijing, there were 21 years of controlling the pace of his heartbeat. To receive the gold, however, he jumped and played as old times.

“Everything is decided in terms of nerves and emotional when talking about Shooting. The marksman can be very good when training, but in the competition, nerves can mess everything up. In Athletics, in the 100 metres, nerves can help. It is not so different from training. In Shooting, the competition is completely different from training”, analyses the Ukrainian.

Union for the sport

Lviv is still his home and place of work. When training to rapid pistol competitions, he can give till 300 shots per day, resting only on Sundays. For the air pistol competitions, he can give about 150. But traveling to competitions is common and not a problem. In his opinion, events as the Olympic Games in Brazil are unique opportunities, and people have to take advantage of it.

“It is an occasion in which people from all over the globe are connected, in which they get to know each other. It is very interesting that people from every corner could be in South America and get to know people from here. It is something completely different from Europe, from the US, from Australia. It is a new experience to many and it must be experienced for everyone.”

In the event of which he is an expert, Oleksandr Petriv fires five times, one shot right after the other, on five targets placed side by side. Without blinking, despite the blast, he achieves his own goals. For some instants, he needs to be alone. Silence is his protection. For a Zen champion, peace through Shooting is a real dream.