Who is Aditi Gopichand Swami? Five facts to know about youngest Archery World Champion

Published at :August 8, 2023 at 5:48 PM

Modified at :January 13, 2024 at 5:30 PM

Clinched India’s first-ever individual gold medal at the competition

Modern Archery has developed into a competitive sport and is played worldwide. In India, the Archery Association of India (AAI) was founded on August 8, 1973, and regulates the sport in the country. Indian archers have left their impact on the international stage, especially in the compound and recurve events.

The country has produced world-class archers such as the likes of Deepika Kumari, Jayant Talukdar, Dola Banerjee, Abhishek Verma, and Jyothi Surekha Vennam who have represented India in various international competitions, including the Olympics and World Archery Championships.

However, in recent times, what has caught everyone’s attention in Indian Archery is the rise of young archers like Aditi Gopichand Swami and Ojas Pravin Deotale. The two young guns not only displayed sensational performances at the ongoing World Archery Championships 2023 but also showed the world what they are capable of. With this, let’s take a look at a few facts about champion archer Aditi Gopichand Swami.

Became a double youth World champion in July

From July 1 to July 9, 2023, at the World Archery Youth Championships 2023, Aditi was a member of the Indian contingent that went on to win six gold medals and overall 11 medals. Although both South Korea and India had won similar numbers of gold and overall medals, India finished just behind the Korean team based on lesser silver medals won in the youth championships.

Aditi played an instrumental role in India’s sensational run at the event, winning two gold medals – one in compound individual and another in the women’s team event. In the individual gold-medal match, she overcame the challenge from Leann Drake of the USA to claim the top position. Meanwhile, she partnered with Aishwarya Sharma and Ekta Rani to win the gold in the compound team category. With this, she became a double world champion in the cadet (U-18) category, bringing glory to the nation.

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Her Father took Rs 10 Lakh as a loan for her career

Gopichand, the father of Aditi and a mathematics teacher at a government school in Satara, always prioritized his daughter’s future. He relocated from a neighboring village to Satara and wanted Aditi to have a promising athletic career. When she was 12, Gopichand took Aditi to the Shahu stadium, where she was captivated by archers practicing at the stadium.

Gopichand recognized his daughter’s inclination toward the sport and promptly enrolled her in an archery training academy. He believed archery had an impact on Aditi because of its non-physical nature, considering she had a thin appearance during that time. Under the mentorship of coach Pravin Sawant, whose academy was present amidst sugarcane fields, Aditi sharpened her skills. She did three hours of practice every weekday and an additional two hours on weekends.

However, financial constraints were a part of her struggles. Aditi’s father Gopichand took loans to equip Aditi with a professional bow and arrows which cost around Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 50,000, respectively. Despite the nationwide lockdowns imposed during Covid-19, Aditi continued to train outside her home.

Even though debts amounted to Rs. 10 lakhs and half of his salary was dedicated to loan repayments, Aditi’s father has been persistent in contributing towards her journey to become one of the biggest sportspersons in the country.

Won India’s first-ever gold medal in the women’s compound team event alongside Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Parneet Kaur

The Indian compound team comprising Aditi Swami, Gopichand, Parneet Kaur, and experienced Jyothi Surekha Vennam, scripted history on August 4, 2023, as they bagged the nation’s first-ever gold medal in the history of the World Archery Championships. The trio together produced a dominant performance of 235-229 and prevailed over the top-seeded Mexican team.

The Indian team, which is guided by Italian coach Sergio Pagni, a decorated double gold winner at the World Championships in mixed team events, demonstrated consistency and precision as they won across all four ends, with scores of 59-57, 59-58, 59-57, and 58-57, to claim the prestigious title. This was the 17-year-old Aditi’s first-ever medal at the prestigious event.

First-ever individual gold medalist for India at the World Archery Championships 2023

After powering India to a historic gold-medal triumph in the women’s compound team event, Aditi claimed her and India’s second gold medal at the World Archery Championships 2023 in Berlin. With this huge accomplishment, Aditi not only won her first individual medal in the championships but also became India’s first-ever individual gold medalist in the history of the event.

Became the youngest-ever senior World Champion

According to the data released by World Archery, Aditi scripted history by emerging as the youngest-ever World Archery champion at just the age of 17 in the World Cup era, which began in 2006. In the gold-medal playoff, Andrea Becerra of Mexico got the better of 149-147 and clinched her second world champion title.

Her journey to the top of the podium was marked by memorable encounters, including narrowly defeating Sanne De Laat from the Netherlands in a nail-biting shoot-off in the quarters. She then defeated her compatriot Jyothi Surekha in the semi-finals, who was a bronze medalist in 2019 and silver medalist in 2021.

She further went onto clinch two medals (gold and bronze each in women’s individual and team events ) at Asian Games 2023.

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