From subpar shooter to Olympic champion coach: How Jelena Arunovic brought new energy to Indian shooting camp

In a parallel world, Jelena Arunovic could be a time traveler. At one point, the pistol trainer was seen reading the newspaper, going through it thoroughly, so her shooters were doing the same. In another, she could sneakily take pictures to upload to her “insta” stories.While reading newspapers probably makes her one of the most striking figures in the Indian shooting set-up, her selfies allow her to bond with the shooters who train with her for hours, every day, at the national camp in Bhopal.The scorer turned coach brings a new energy and it’s contagious. She breaks the norm by becoming a cheerleader, a friend to the shooters, while maintaining her position as a pistol shooting coach.The Serbian came to India after successfully coaching her sister Zoran and Damir Mikec to the 10m air pistol mixed team gold at the Paris Games. After her time with the Serbian national team, Jelena worked as the head coach of Guangdong province in China.“I have some experience with Asian teams – I was in China last year – but this is completely different. Everything is more intense, not only with the national team, but in general, from the food to everything else. So far, I like it,” 45-year-old Jelena told TOI.The Serb is getting used to India’s way of overreacting. “Everything is very emotional. The intensity is five times greater when we’re sad, when we’re happy, when we’re celebrating. Everything is over the edge. When we’re happy, we’re very happy. When we’re sad, it’s the end of the world. I’m still adjusting,” she admitted.“I’m still trying to find similarities with the Serbian national team and with the Chinese athletes, and I’m also trying to change myself to fit in better and perform better,” she said.Jelena took part in world competitions between 1997 and 2012, after retiring from active shooting she started training. On how the two experiences differed, the Serbian said that both her roles are incomparable. “These experiences are completely different. I was below average as an athlete. I only have one medal, a silver from the Olympic World Championships. I never mention that because I think it’s rude to mention my personal experience when you have such a good group of athletes. How can they relate to one World Championship medal?” she admitted.“But as a coach, my experience is on a whole different level. I’ve won everything. That’s what I’m most proud of because I know how hard it was for me and my sister to be patient, believe in our work and be good enough to win an Olympic gold medal,” she said.“Very soon I understood that I could not compare myself to the best athletes. I was very honest and said ‘this will not work’, even though I was very persistent. My skills were not at the required level. Then I said: ‘Okay, I like this sport. My sister was very talented then. I think I will try to be a coach’,” said Jelena about her journey.While the younger sister prepares for the Olympics in Los Angeles, the older sister trains her competitors in India. “We laugh about it. She would like to have me with her, but she understands my professional commitments and is very proud of what I do.”