INTERVIEW WITH JASNA SEKARIC
Serbian Jasna Sekaric is one of the most successful female shooters in ISSF history, with European, World, and Olympic medals to her credit. She is also a former world record holder.
How did you get started shooting?
At school we had air rifle shooting. It was a start and then I went for two years to a shooting school.
When did you move from rifle to pistol?
I was shooting for three years with air rifle and small bore. Then there was the European Championships in Austria, 1985, I wasn’t the best in air rifle, and I changed to pistol because we didn’t have any competitors for the team and it was much easier to get in the pistol team, so I changed. I’m happy that I did it.
Were you happy at the time?
No, I was disappointed because I liked to shoot rifle. But now I think it was much better.
How old were you when you started shooting pistol?
The end of 1983 I was 17 and a half. A little bit late.
You’ve done well with it.
Yes, I learned it very fast, because in 1984 I was on the National Team, and in 1985 I took a medal, the only one for Yugoslavia. I was junior then, this was in Sport Pistol. Then in 1986 I was European Champion in Womens Air Pistol, and in 1987 World Champion, 1988 Olympic. It was very quick. But I was working so hard. Training every day. I like it very much. I was doing everything I needed to do exercises, I’d spend half my days on the shooting range.
What kind of physical activities did you do?
Every training session I would start with weights. A different kind of exercise, those that are important for pistol shooting, and then I would shoot. And shoot a lot. Because I liked it. Not so much now.
You don’t do so much physical work now?
No, I am doing it, everything like I did at the start, but not so special (intense). I had a break for two years and now it’s really difficult going back. So I was very happy to get a medal (at the Sydney Olympics).
Are you a famous person in Yugoslavia?
Yes. Almost everybody knows me. It’s really fun. Yugoslavia is not so big. Our nation likes sport very much.
What is your favorite training drill?
I am trying to do different training, like I already told you, I don’t train as much. From all those years of shooting I kept a diary. I am still doing it.
So does your diary tell what you need to concentrate on even today?
Yes, I think so.
How do you handle the match pressure?
It’s very difficult for me to explain this in English. These days when I’m shooting I don’t think about anything but shooting. I try not to concentrate on any other things that are not so important. But mental training, I never do anything. I was very quiet when I was a child. I used to play for hours alone. I was very quiet and shy. I am able to become this island. It is important to be able to be alone. To be calm. When I started, I became Yugoslav Champion. Then I thought, “Okay, now I will be European Champion”. It was so normal for me to think that way. I have this inside of me, I never was satisfied, because when I was first in Europe I wanted to be first in the world, and then I was used to winning. I didn’t think about it but in the competition I wasn’t nervous at all. Now it’s a little different. I didn’t shoot for two years, when I had a baby, and then the bombing, so it was two years without real shooting, without normal training. This year I wasn’t doing anything special, my shooting was not so good. But now I want to be the same again.
How do you like shooting the LP10 versus the LP1?
Not a lot of difference. But when I changed to the new model, it was like I told you, I needed something new in my training to bring me up.
What’s your funniest shooting experience?
After the World Championship, my first one, I lost my pistol. It was not so funny. One day after my shooting I gave all my bags and stuff to my trainer and he was so excited but he lost the bag. Can you imagine? I was shooting with a Feinwerkbau Model 65. I was the only one in the Final with one of them. I was in first place with 8 or 9 points difference between me and second place.
Really? And what year was this?
1987. CO2 was just starting.
What do you shoot for Sport Pistol?
A Hammerli 215. I was forever trying to change but I couldn’t shoot too well with any other model. My precision is very good, or it was very good. This year I didn’t shoot so well in Sport Pistol. If you’re shooting good with one model there is no reason to change. But for two years I tried other models but came back to the 215.
Do you use any of the electronic trainers?
Yes I started this year. The SCATT. It’s helping me. Sometimes when I’m shooting, I shoot something that I can’t recognize. You think the pistol went there all by itself, that you didn’t shoot that. But with the electronics you can exactly see what happened. It’s good.
What advice would you give a junior shooter starting out?
That talent is not so important. The only thing that is important is to work. If you work hard from the start you will work less in the future. It’s also very important to make some competition every training session, right from the start. Make a game of it. Our trainer would at the end of every training session make a competition. This was where I first learned to win, and this is very important. The wish to win.
We wish you all the best for the future.
Thank you.