Jaspal Rana Biography

Jaspal Rana, one of the eminent luminaries from the world of shooting, was born on 28th June 1976, in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi District. His childhood was spent in the capital city, New Delhi.

In fact, he even did his schooling from Delhi’s K.V. Air Force School and then went on to attend the elite St. Stephen’s College and Sri Aurobindo College. Jaspal Rana’s mentor and his source of inspiration was his father Shri Narayan Singh Rana, a Border Security Force official. Eventually, his talent received due recognition and his amateur skills were honed to perfection by Sunny Thomas and Tibor Ganazol.

Rana’s national debut at the 31st National Shooting Championship at Ahmadabad earned him heaps of accolades and gave him his first big break. The 12 year old Rana made his state proud and was awarded the silver medal. The 46th World Shooting Championship (Junior Section) held in Milan in the year 1994 added another feather to Rana’s cap. He won the gold medal and made his mark in the arena of Standard Pistol shooting. This was another milestone in Rana’s career.
Rana has won more than 600 medals in the national as well as the international arena of shooting. In the year 1994 he was also awarded the Arjuna Award, the highest recognition meted out by the Indian Government for excellence in the world of sports. Rana who specializes in the category of 25m Centre Fire Pistol shooting has also won several prestigious awards in the sphere of Free Pistol, Air Pistol, Standard Pistol and Rapid Fire Pistol.

He has equaled many world records and some of his other significant achievements include the gold medals he won at the 1994 Asian Games at Hiroshima, the 2006 Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games.

Rana is married to Reena Rana who also happens to be a shooter. He is also a father of two children. Rana has also entered into the realm of politics. A candidate from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) he is hoping to contest the next elections from Uttarakhand.