Padma Shri for Gagan Narang

Jan 25. World record holder Gagan Narang, who won four gold medals in the 2010 Commonwealth Games was on Tuesday conferred with the Padma Shri award.

Narang had a very succesfull 2010, when apart from the four golds at the CWG, he won two silvers at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China and also became the first Indian shooter to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics after bagging bronze in the men's air rifle at the ISSF World Championship in Munich, overtaking some of the best in the business.

Gagan Narang

"It is a great achievement for me. This award means a lot as it will act as a motivation for me to win a medal at the London Olympics," the World No. 4 said.

It feels great to be honoured with the award, to be the chosen one, and to be in the league (of sportspersons who have been bestowed with the award)," said an elated Narang.

"This will motivate me to give my best and do better infuture tournaments," he said.

"I am already looking forward to the year 2011 and will then think about 2012 (the year of the Olympics)," the Hyderabadi added.

Asked if his achievements and the rewards that followedwould inspire more youngsters to take up shooting seriously,Narang said, "Any award is inspiring. The government is doing a lot towards that."

Asked if he would like to thank anyone on his day of glory, Narang said the list is endless.

"It would not be fair to thank just one person. WhateverI have achieved today is because of all the blessings and well-wishes of everyone -- my parents, my coaches, the federation, Sahara and Air India," Narang said.

Narang, whose success story began with a gold medal in the Afro Asian Games in 2003, went on to win four gold medals in the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, several world cup medals in the last 5 years which also included a gold in the 2008 ISSF World Cup final in Bangkok where he shot a perfect score of 600/600 and made a new world record of 703.5 in men's air rifle. indianshooting.com