Rajmond Debevec last gold was at the 2018 Changwon World Championship. Becoming world champion at that point was a feat in itself as the Slovenian was then 55, an age when most athletes move on to assume different roles as a coach or administrator.
On Sunday, Debevec unrelenting spirit and the burning desire to raise the bar even further saw him shoot a perfect 600 en-route gold again in men’s 300m rifle prone at the ISSF World Championship in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Of course, the talent and discipline is obvious, but equalling the world record at the age of 60 speaks volumes on Debevec refusal to slow down.
In fact, the difference in outlook of Debevec and his contemporaries was evident from his social media posts from Baku. The past few days have been about meeting old friends and former shooters who are now either coaches, jury or sports administrators.
And here was Debevec, ready to challenge and upstage competitors less than half his age. The silver medallist Aleksi Leppa (599) of Finland and a double gold medallist from 2018 Changwon World Championship, is 28, while Timothy Sherry (599) of USA, bronze medallist on Sunday and also at the 2022 Cairo World Championship, is 29.
Debevec resume makes for impressive reading. He is a six-time Olympian with gold at Sydney 2000 and bronze medallist at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
The World Championships are another happy hunting ground with six medals, including two gold spread over Changwon 2018, Lahti 2002, and two silver and two bronze at Lahti, Zagreb 2006, Barcelona 1998 and Moscow 1990.
In an exclusive interaction with indianshooting.com, an elated Debevec said, This was my only event in Baku where I expected to be competitive and fight for a medal, but I knew I needed a good starting point as the Baku range is difficult due to usually windy conditions.
But the unexpected happened and it was still with perfect light this morning. This meant equal conditions for all the shooters and a fair fight for the title.
I was well prepared and shot my first-ever absolute 600 points score in 300m. In perfect conditions, only perfect score was good enough for gold, and I am happy I was the one who shot it!ÔÇØ he said.