Arjun Babuta

Born on 24 January 1999 in Jalalabad (Fazilka), Punjab, Arjun moved with his family to Chandigarh in 2011 for better educational and sports opportunities. Inspired by Abhinav Bindra, India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist, he began training in 2013 and clinched his first medal in a state-level championship that same year.

Some of his Career Milestones include –

Junior success: Silver in the Junior 10 m Air Rifle at the 2017 Asian Airgun Championship (Wako City, Japan)

Earned individual Junior World Cup bronze in 2016 and 2018.

Senior breakthrough in 2022: Gold at ISSF World Cup Changwon in both individual and team 10 m air rifle events, marking his first senior international gold medals.

2023 Asian Shooting Championships (Changwon): Silver in men’s 10 m air rifle final, securing an Olympic quota; also contributed to the gold medal in the team event.

At his debut Paris 2024 Olympics, Babuta shot 630.1 in qualification to rank seventh and went on to finish fourth in the men’s 10 m air rifle final by a narrow margin, missing bronze by just 1.4 points (total 208.4). He made an incredible comeback with a gold in the 10 m air rifle mixed team event, defeating the Olympic/world champions from China at the ISSF World Cup in 2025.

Arjun is known for his precision, discipline, and obsession with marginal gains—from adjusting sleep routines to managing nerves under pressure. His journey illustrates the fine margins of elite sport—where dreams and heartbreak can be separated by just a fraction. Armed with early passion, meticulous preparation, and a resilience forged through setbacks, he is now poised to transform his near‑miss into major international victories.