Elavenil Valarivan: All You Need to Know About Her Background, Career, Family, Personal Life

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Elavenil Valarivan, born August 2, 1999, in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, is an Indian shooter who specializes in the 10m air rifle event. She made her Olympics debut in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. In Paris, Elavenil will compete in the women’s 10m air rifle event and the 10m air rifle mixed team. She has been paired with Sandeep Singh in the mixed team.

Elavenil triumphed in the women's air rifle final at the World Cup in Rio, Brazil, securing her second individual gold medal with a score of 252.2, narrowly defeating top qualifier Oceanne Muller of France by 0.3 points.

Early Life and Education

She began her journey in the sport in 2012 and took it more seriously starting in July 2014 at Sanskardham School. She has explored nearly all sports except for cricket, football, and volleyball. Her parents were both badminton players, and her father even competed at the state level in volleyball.

Elavenil's parents are both PhD scholars. Her father, Valarivan Ruthrapathy, is a scientist and an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. Her mother, Saroja Valarivan, is a teacher. Her brother, Ereivan, is a Captain in the Indian Army.

Personal Life

In 2015, Elavenil Valarivan took her tenth-grade exams during which she had to manage both her studies and her shooting training. Her coach, Neha Chavan, mentioned in an interview that Elavenil would arrive for shooting practice early in the morning before school began and would also stay after school for additional training sessions.

Shooting Career

Elavenil represented India at the 2018 ISSF Junior World Cup where she secured a gold medal.

In 2019, she earned a silver medal at the World University Games followed by a gold medal at the 2019 World Junior World Cup. At the 10m air rifle Asian Air Gun Championships held in Taoyuan, Taipei, she earned her first individual gold medal in the senior category with a score of 250.5.

Additionally, she achieved first place at the 2019 ISSF 10-meter Air Rifle World Cup, scoring 251.7 in Rio de Janeiro. Elavenil secured fourth place in the finals at the ISSF World Cup in Munich during the 2019 Shooting World Cup, achieving a score of 208.3. Additionally, she won two gold medals at the Junior World Cup and a silver medal at the 2018 Junior World Championships.

Achievements and Awards

Her academy, Gun for Glory, was honoured with the National Award known as the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskaar in 2019. She bagged the Sportsperson of the Year award in her category at the FICCI India Sports Awards 2020. She was awarded the Arjuna Award, the second-highest sporting honour in India, in 2022.