Paris Olympics background stories ft. Pravin Jadhav

Rags to riches stories are quite common in Indian sports, where majority of the athletes come from backgrounds, where there’s a constant crunch for financial resources. Recurve archer Pravin Jadhav, who would be appearing in his second Olympics at Paris 2024, is no different. But what really sets him apart is, he not only had to battle poverty, but also undernourishment, to become country’s one of the top-most archers, one who had won a silver medal at the World Championships in 2019.

Back in Tokyo 2020, in the presence of some top archers from India itself, he went on to establish his name, and also went on to represent India in the mixed team event, by virtue of his superior seeding in the men’s singles. Playing with Deepika Kumari, the team reached the quarters, where they lost to South Korea 2-6. And in the singles, he went on to beat seasoned ROCs Galsan Bazarzhapov, who happens to be a former World Championships silver medalist.

Pravin Jadhav Early Life & Struggles

The 28-year-old Pravin Jadhav was born to daily wage laborers, and stayed in a small house near a drain, in Maharashtra’s Satara district. He first choice wasn’t archery, and the youngster was into 800m run in his initial days. But undernourishment meant, he didn’t have enough stamina to sustain his pace. Soon he shifted to Amravati, to get training in archery, but there also the struggle was real, as he found it tough to deal with the weight of the bow.

His turnaround only happened, when he was asked to prove his worth in the academy with last few arrows. There, as per various reports, he shot a near-perfect 45. Later in life, he was also recruited in the Indian Army under the sports quota.

A Medal Prospect?

This year hasn’t been great for Pravin, and his ranking has slipped to 114. At the World Cups also he finished 33rd and 17th, respectively. But given the unpredictable nature of archery, he is good enough to be beat the best in the world.