Indian archer maestro Rajat Chauhan is dreaming it big. The Asian Games gold medallist, who became the country’s first individual medal winner in international archery in 2015, is yet to earn his first World Championship gold. However, Chauhan’s ambitions go well beyond, reaching the glorious feat of an Olympic medal.
Unfortunately, Rajat cannot complete in the Olympics straight away. The compound archer, hailing from Jaipur, decided to switch from recurve category in 2016, and compound archery is yet to be included in the Olympics Games. To become an Olympian, he has to make the switch back to recurve category.
However, Chauhan wants to clinch a gold medal at the 2021 World Championship first, an achievement he missed out on when he made history with the silver medal at the 2015 World Archery Championships in Copenhagen.
This will bar him from competing at the Tokyo Olympics next year. Nevertheless, the 2024 Olympics is Chauhan’s ultimate bullseye.
World Championships-Switch-Olympics: Rajat Chauhan’s plan of action
“I expect to get a job (the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police in Rajasthan) in a month,” Rajat Chauhan spoke to Sportstar, “I have to win a National or international medal within two years to get the job confirmed. I will use the time to achieve my dream of becoming a World champion.”
“After securing my future, I will move to recurve and will try for the 2024 Olympics. My gut feeling says I will do well in the Olympics,” said the 2016 Arjuna Awardee.
“I have seen the difference in treatment to Olympic athletes and non-Olympic athletes. That’s why I have a keen desire to excel in the Olympics.” the 25 year old added.
During the COVID-19 lock down, Chauhan received a scholarship of World Archery for providing a scholarship of $5000 (₹3,75,000).
“There are no competitions and no prize money. So, I don’t have any earnings,” Chauhan went on, “This fund (scholarship) has been useful for my training.”
Back in April, Chauhan also decided to donate Rs 2.11 lakh to the Rajasthan Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, as a joint effort to feed 1800 people everyday for two months.
Rajat won a gold at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, as part of the men’s team alongside Sandeep Kumar and Abhishek Verma, the same year when became the first Indian compound archer to secure a berth at the Archery World Cup final. her was also part of the compound archery team that won silver at the 2018 Asian Games.
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