"Same team, equipment for a decade" – The consistency behind Elavenil Valarivan's 2026 Asian Games success

That was until Sunday. At the Aichi Prefecture General Shooting Gallery, Valarivan shot her way to twin silver medals at the 2026 Asian Games.

First she shot a 633.5 in the women’s 10m air rifle qualification. That’s usually an extremely good score, but in the ever-rising invisible bar of women’s air rifle, it was only the seventh best.

Not a pretty position to finish in qualification, but good enough to help her advance to the all-important individual finals as well as secure a silver in the women’s team event alongside Sonam Maskar (634.1) and Vidarsa Vinod (630.4).

In the final, Valarivan looked in complete command, occupying the gold medal spot for most of the time, until she faltered with her final few shots to lose out by a mere 0.6 points.

“I got a bit relaxed,” she said after the medal win. “I think I need to work on my finals a bit more.

“Once the medal was assured, there was no pressure. It was about me getting a little easy on my process,” she added.

It was a candid admission from Valarivan, who was completely content with her twin medals that day.

A month before she left for Aichi in search of her first Asian Games medal, Valarivan had opened up about the same issue.

“I won’t say there are no thoughts going on in our mind or we are blank [while competing],” she had told The Bridge.

“We definitely have a lot of thoughts going on in our head, but again, in the sport of shooting, that is what separates us from that one agonising point for a medal.

“I’m still getting used to adapting to those thoughts and channelising it in a better way; and I’m still learning how to be at my absolute best,” she added.

Valarivan, once one of the youngest members in the Indian shooting squad, is now one of the more senior pros in the team.

Her consistency over the years has been remarkable. She credits it to her long-time team and equipment.

“I’ve had a very consistent team for more than a decade,” she said. “I’ve been with the same coach, I’ve had the same psychologist, I’ve had the same mentor, the same nutritionist."

“Over time, I see the consistency in the team; they know me so well, they know how I react, they know how my days go. So, that has been one of the key elements,” she added.

Valarivan has also used the same rifle and equipment since she started shooting as a teenager nearly 14 years ago. Now 27, she is in tune with the rifle. It is an extension of her arm.

“I’ve been using the same equipment since the time I can remember,” she revealed. “As long as I’ve been in the sport, I’ve been with the same weapon, the same kit.

“I think that definitely plays a major role because I haven’t changed equipment to see what difference it gives me, but at the same time I’ve been so consistent with my equipment that I know even if there is a micro change that happens,” she added.

That decade-long consistency is finally bearing fruit. Since the heartbreak at the 2024 Paris Olympics two years ago, Valarivan has arguably been one of India’s most consistent shooters in air rifle.

She has bagged four Asian Championships gold, a first world championship individual bronze, whilst also medalling at the ISSF World Cup.

The twin silvers in Aichi is just a byproduct of that, and quite possibly just a stepping stone as she aims to be third-time lucky at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.