Indian Archers are winning back to back medals in the ongoing Asian Games. Especially in the compound event in the sport, the nation already has already bagged three gold medals. Lot more medals in the sport are to be won yet as like Shooting and Athletics, Archery too is expected to bag a rich medal haul from this edition.
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Indian Compound Archers at Asian Games so far
Jyothi Surekha and Ojas Pravin finished on top in the Mixed team event at the Asian Games. Surekha added one more gold in the Women’s team event alongside reigning world champion Aditi Swami and Parneet Kaur. Meanwhile Ojas Pravin along with Abhishek Verma and Prathamesh Jawkar added another gold in the Men’s team event.
While the performance of our Archers has to be lauded, Indian still might not be able to replicate a similar show in the sport in the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024. One of the primary reasons is, the Compound Archery event is not in the Olympics.
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What is Compound Archery?
Before looking at the reason for Compound Archery not finding a place in the Olympics, let’s first understand what Compound Archery is all about.
In compound archery, the bow used to hit the target is much different. It employs the usage of a bow that has a levering system of pulleys and cables that aids in releasing the arrow. Thus it allows the archer to draw the board with less effort and the arrow can also travel at a faster speed. The compound bows were born in the United States in 1960s.
Compound bows also gives more accurate results that other types and the Archers can aim the target through magnified scope. It was only in the 1990s that this form was recognised as a competitive sport.
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Why is Compound Archery not included in Olympics?
Archery has been part of the Olympics since 1900. It was a permanent feature till 1920. However too many variations led to it being dropped. The sport made its return back to the Olympics only in 1972 and only the recurve event was accepted.
One of the reasons for its exclusion from the Olympics is the aide by the technology. Also the equipments in compound archery is costly and it is believed that the sport is not famous yet in Asia and Africa.
While there is no chance of the compund archery getting included in Paris Olympics, the World Archery has proposed the event to be considered for Los Angeles 2028. In USA too the compound archery remains popular.
Indians in Compound Archery
Indian archers have dominated the world stage in compound archery much recently. 17-year old Aditi Swami became the country’s first-ever individual world champion in 2023 as she won gold in the World Archery championships.
Ojas Pravin also won the gold in the Men’s individual event in the very same event. While Jyothi Surekha has also been a consistent performer over the years.
While they are all shining at the world stage, they all aspire to compete at the Olympics as well. Only time will however tell whether they will be able to make the cut to the Olympics in the near future.
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