Laxmi Rani Majhi: 10 things to know about one of India's brightest archery prospects at Rio 2016

Laxmi Rani Majhi is a bright prospect in the world of archery, and she is going to represent India in the women’s archery team event along with Deepika Kumari and Rimil Buriuly at the Rio Olympics. The trio hopes to have a great show at the Olympics and win a medal for the country. Let us now take a look at 10 facts about the archer:

1. Laxmi Rani Majhi was born on 26 January 1989 in Bagula, Jharkhand. She resides in Chittaranjan, Asansol in West Bengal. She is a right-handed recurve archer who is going to be a part of the Indian women’s archery team that is going to take part in the Rio Olympics 2016.

2. She is from the Santhal tribe, and her father used to work as a coal-miner. She has come a long way from her improvised childhood and is making waves in the world on archery now. She decided to take up archery in order to help his had live a safe and comfortable life.

3. She is currently employed with the Indian Railways in Bilaspur, Chattisgarh and earns enough to support her family and help them live a respectable life, something that was a lifelong dream for her.

“My father’s job was very dangerous. I did not want him to do that, so I thought I would take up archery and he can retire.”

4. Laxmi was studying in a government school in Bagula, when she caught the eye of national coach Dharmendra Tiwari who had come with a couple of selectors to scout for young talents. Even though she did not know anything about the sport, she still wanted to take part in it, as she saw it as a means to earn a living.

“Fortunately, I did well for myself. And my father is at a higher position now, so he does not have to go deep in the mines anymore.”

5. While growing up, she used her superior skills to win many competitions in the art of archery, and was even awarded the position of a cadet by the Tata Sports Academy in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand.

6. This will be her first Olympics along with her teammate Rimil Buriuly, and both are really excited for it. They are training really hard to improve their skills and have a podium finish at the Olympics. This will be the second Olympics for their teammate Deepika Kumari, who had earlier participated in the 2012 London Olympics.

7. According to her coach, she balances the team because of her ability to soak in pressure. She is a talented athlete who consistently scores 10s to help her team out when needed, and will play a crucial role in the team’s hopes to win a medal at the Games.

8. She is currently being supported and funded by the Olympic Gold Quest, a not-for-profit organization that helps to provide the necessary help that talented athletes like Laxmi need to see their dreams of winning medals at the Olympics come true.

9. She gave a great performance at the 2015 World Archery Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark as she won the silver medal in the team recurve event which saw her qualify for the Rio Olympics.

10. She is currently being coached by Poornima Mahato who has been helping her improve her performances as an archer. The trio of Laxmi, Deepika and Rimil had faced a higher ranked Germany in the quarterfinals of the World Archery Championships, and came back from a deficit of 1-3 to win the match 5-3, which gave the team the necessary confidence required to give tough competitions to the other participants in the archery event and come out successful as medal winners in the Games.