Deepika Kumari aims to leverage experience at Paris Olympics 2024
Indian archer Deepika Kumari aims to make the most of her experience at the Paris Olympics 2024. The three-time Olympian will be looking to secure a medal in her fourth appearance at the Summer Olympics in Paris.
A young archer who made her debut in the 2012 London Olympics as World No. 1 will now be going as a confident and a better player. India has never secured a medal in archery at the Olympics, mainly because of pressure.
Deepika entered the Tokyo Olympics 2020 as the World No. 1 once again but fell short in the quarter-finals of both individual and mixed team events. In a conversation with Sportstar at the National camp on the Army Sports Institute campus, she opened up about remaining positive and using her experience to tackle the pressure.
“Honestly, there’s nothing going on in my mind. It’s the fourth Olympics. It’s a new event, a new team. I’ll try to use my experience and control my thoughts. Every match has different pressures and thoughts. I have trained so that I can manage those things. How much I will be able to manage will be known only at that time,” said Deepika Kumari.
As the 30-year-old veteran leads a youthful Indian archery team, including Olympic debutants Ankita Bhakat and Bhajan Kaur, she emphasizes the importance of individual focus and effort.
“You have to go to the shooting line and shoot yourself. You have to put your 100 percent effort in every arrow. You should not depend on your team members. If someone is not doing well, or we are not synchronizing, what do we think about that? There are three minds and three bodies. We should feel that only one person is performing,” added Deepika.
“No one wants to play the first or second match with them” - Deepika Kumari on Korea’s dominance at the Olympics
Korea's dominance in Olympic archery, with 43 podium finishes and 27 gold medals, is well known. Korean women have consistently dominated the team event since its introduction at the Seoul 1988 Olympics, having won every single title.
Deepika Kumari is aware of this challenge and aims to perform well to avoid facing them in the initial stages.
“We will try to do well so that we get a good draw. Korea performs well at that stage. No one wants to play the first or second match with them,” she added.