Deepika Kumari: Indian archer on path of rediscovery after feeling overwhelmed by Tokyo 2020 

Tokyo 2020 did not go the way Indian archer Deepika Kumari had planned.

The 27-year-old recurve women's world number two arrived at the Games in the Japanese capital with every intention of landing a piece of Olympic silverware.

Twice before, at London 2012 and Rio 2016, Kumari had attempted to bring home India’s first Olympic archery gold but had fallen short.

But Tokyo would be different, she sensed.

After all, she had made the perfect start to the Olympic year, clinching two gold medals in the Archery World Cup Stage I in April before bagging a hat-trick of gold medals at Stage III at the marquee event in Paris.

The Ranchi-born archer was on stunning form and wanted to prove it.

“When you’re thinking we don’t have a single medal in history so we can’t mess this up, it’s just the wrong sort of pressure,” Kumari said in a recent interview with ESPN India. “It’s not just about what people expect of you, but also what you want of yourself.”

Despite bettering her performance from her previous two Olympic outings in reaching the top eight, Kumari found herself halted by top seed An San of Korea, who defeated the Indian 6-0 in the quarter-finals.

The archery ace crashed out and was subsequently devastated.

“I know I wasn’t good enough in Tokyo or I’d have a medal with me today,” Kumari continued to ESPN detailing her emotional turmoil.

“When you fail after you’ve told yourself ki yeh karna hi hai (that I have to do this), you begin to doubt everything you know. I began to wonder what I am even doing with myself anymore.”

Deepika Kumari & Atanu Das: finding solace in one another

Though Kumari resented everything she was feeling, she knew she wasn’t alone.

After she was knocked out of the women’s competition all Indian archery hopes fell on her husband Atanu Das competing in the men’s individual event.

When he was also eliminated at the hands of Japan’s Furukawa Takaharu, the couple both found themselves experiencing the same kind of pain and were therefore able to help each other through it.

“Between us, I think I was more devastated after Tokyo,“ explained Kumari to ESPN.

Having been tightly tied to Indian archery's medal hopes since the age of 18 when she first held the world number one spot in the sport, the archer knew going forwards she needed to release some of the unwanted pressure weighing her down.

After taking two months out – even then during which Kumari confessed to still thinking about what her competitors were up to – the married pair decided to switch things up.

As well as trying out a new training facility they even flew to Las Vegas, USA, to compete in one of the largest indoor archery tournaments in the world – a world apart from the outdoor events they are both typically used to.

“The indoor event was freeing,” Kumari continued to ESPN. “It was like a mela (fair)… No tension, no pressure, everyone’s here to shoot arrows and enjoy themselves. That’s the sort of attitude we need to build. We’re always overthinking and sometimes taking on pressures that aren’t even supposed to be ours.

"I'm trying to get better at positive self-talk, goal-setting and worrying less."

Das shared a similar outlook to his wife with Olympics.com back in September last year, pointing to a need to unshackle himself from ambitions that aren’t explicitly his:

“We had sacrificed life beyond sports and given it our all to archery. So, at the end of the day it feels like we have lost everything when the performance doesn’t come out as per our expectations.

“That is why I’m trying to balance everything so that we don’t take excessive pressure,” the archer explained.

“We shouldn’t believe that the game is everything; it should be considered as a part of our life. I think we all are capable of clinching medals at the Olympics but then we become too serious during the mega event.

“I think that winning a medal at the Olympics should be normalised like many other countries do.”

Focusing on a future free of overwhelming pressure

In January this year, both Tokyo Olympians were dropped from India’s Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) after disappointing performances at the national archery ranking tournament.

TOPS is the Indian sports ministry’s flagship programme committed to supporting India’s Olympic medal contenders financially. The body that determines who is eligible for funding ultimately made the call to end ties with the married couple.

Both Kumari and Das have taken the decision in their stride, understanding why the call was made, and how they are now motivated more than ever to deliver once again:

“We were very disturbed that we could not get the results we wanted in the Olympic Games,” Das said after the news was announced.

“We took a break from competitive archery after the Olympic Games. I know it is a matter of time before we find the form and get back to where we belong.”

Kumari echoed her husband’s words: “I will be motivated to return with good scores in the competitions ahead.”

This year will certainly be a busy for the pair with a packed calendar including World Cup events and the 2022 Asian Games. Both archers will be taking aim at success, and with it, a sense of perspective.