At 17, Kumkum Mohod has done what Indian archery dreamed of for decades. The teenager from Amravati, a quiet Tier-3 city in northern Maharashtra, won the women’s individual recurve gold at the Asian Games and led India to the women’s team gold against mighty South Korea, ending the Koreans’ three-decade stranglehold on the event. A mixed team silver completed a haul of three medals.

Remarkably, she shot with a second-hand bow. Five years ago, Nashik archer Gaurav Namdeo gave away his recurve bow to Mohod. Though she now owns three brand-new bows, she chose the old one for the biggest stage of her life. “A bow doesn’t make an archer. An archer turns a bow into a gold medal,” the 17-year-old says, echoing her coach Praful Dange’s mantra about grit.

Beating the Koreans, idol included

Mohod defeated her idol, South Korea’s reigning recurve world champion Kang Chae-young, in the quarterfinals, before beating Oh Yejin in the final. She refused to be drawn into a strength contest: Oh shoots at a string tension equivalent to a shoulder lifting nearly 32 kg, but Mohod’s team told her to trust her own game rather than copy big names.

Her father Anil recalled warning her before the quarterfinal to treat her idol as an opponent. “I visualised defeating the Koreans every day for a year,” Mohod says. She draws a two-metre visualisation circle in her mind during matches, focusing only on herself, her equipment and the target for those 10 to 15 minutes.

Sleeper-class journeys and a father’s promise

The golds were built on sacrifice. Anil sold his mithai box-making business, poured a decade of savings into his daughter’s kit and never let her quiver run empty. Once, during Covid, he found her holding back shots for fear of breaking arrows; the next day he bought her a stock worth Rs 15,000 and promised she would never run out.

The family always travelled sleeper class, never AC. Mohod wore old shoes till the soles tore off; Anil bought her archery shoes only thrice in her life. “We have to ensure none of us flies too high,” coach Dange says. “Only the Olympics matter.”

Eye on the 2028 Olympics

Mohod’s walls carry her scribbled dream: “Kumkum Olympic gold in 2028”. Before the trials, her father woke her with the words “Uth ja, champion” — rise, champion. When she won, he rushed to buy the EV scooty she had asked for, only to find a three-month waiting period.

Off the range she is all teenager: a Barbie doll with 69 medals around its neck, sketches of Krishna, Arijit Singh songs for focus, and besan khichdi after returning home. Dange has promised her the latest iPhone — even if he must sell his house — if she wins an Olympic medal.