In June this year, Bhajan Kaur grabbed gold in the Final World Quota Tournament in Antalya, Turkiye. In doing so, she bagged the coveted individual quota for the Paris Olympics.
For the euphoric teenager from Ellenabad in Haryana, a whole new world will now unravel.
But archery wasn’t necessarily her first love.
Her initiation to sports began in shot put and she only stumbled upon archery by sheer accident where there was no other girl to represent her school in the Under-14 category at a district championship in Haryana.
And when she picked up the bow for the very first time at the age of 12, she surprised herself and the ones around her.
Spotting her natural talent, a teacher told her to give archery a go.
Six years onwards, and at just 18 years-of-age, Bhajan will don Indian colors at Paris 2024.
Trained on a wheat field
Despite possessing a natural flair for archery, the path to Paris wasn’t easy.
She had to travel 80 km every day from her hometown Sirsa for training. Her father, Bhagwan Singh, a farmer by profession, would drive her to the sessions.
After six months of this hectic routine, the training had to stop. But this was not going to deter Bhajan from nursing her talent.
Determined to nurture her skills, her father borrowed INR. 25,000 from local traders and built an archery range in their wheat field behind their home. What’s more, he began coaching her himself whilst dedicating himself to learning the intricacies of archery along the way.
Bhajan later joined the Tata Archery Academy in Jamshedpur and began working with Korean coach Lim Chae Woong.
Rubbing shoulders with her hero
Bhajan’s rapid progress has been fascinating.
With her father’s support and mother’s dedication, she navigated the challenging development process with aplomb.
Once Bhajan started diving deep into the world of archery, her career skyrocketed. With national and international exposure, she kept getting better.
The teenager takes inspiration from Deepika Kumari, the former World No. 1 recurve archer. At Paris, besides individual competition, she is preparing herself to shoot alongside Deepika as a part of the Women’s team.
🇮🇳✅ 𝗕𝗵𝗮𝗷𝗮𝗻 𝗞𝗮𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀! Congratulations to her on securing India’s second Archery #Paris2024 quota at the Final Olympic Qualifiers 2024, Antalya.
🤩 Bhajan Kaur won 🥇 by beating Mobina 6-2 in the women’s Recurve individual final to secure the Olympic quota.… pic.twitter.com/UB2xSDk4Or
— India at Paris 2024 Olympics (@sportwalkmedia) June 17, 2024
Achievements
At such a young age, Bhajan’s achievements truly underscores her talent and dedication:
- Bronze at World Archery Youth Championships, 2023 (Individual)
- Bronze at the 2023 Asian Games (Women’s team)
- Bronze at the Archery World Cup in Antalya, 2024 (Mixed team)
- Gold in Paris Final Olympic Qualifier, 2024, a result that secured her spot in the individual category at the Paris Olympics 2024.
Bhajan Kaur clinches the GOLD at the Taipei Open. 🥇💪#IndoorWorldSeries pic.twitter.com/qFcn06rwYH
— World Archery (@worldarchery) December 10, 2023
As the 18-year-old Bhajan prepares to write her name in the history of the Olympics, as one of the youngest athletes to represent India, she inspires millions to pursue their dreams fearlessly, regardless of the challenges they face.