New Delhi, Dec 1 (IANS) Arjun Award-winning compound archer Rajat Chauhan married fellow archer Swati Dudhwal in Jaipur. Both have won multiple medals for Rajasthan and India, bringing pride to the state and the country through their achievements in archery.

The wedding celebrations were conducted with traditional splendour. The couple’s wedding procession included several renowned archers, making the occasion even more memorable.

A galaxy of archery stars, including Olympians Deepika Kumari, Atanu Das, Tarundeep Rai, and champions Rahul Banerjee, Jayanta Talukdar, Ojas Deotale, Aditi Swami, Prathamesh Fuge, and Prathamesh Jawkar and others gathered to celebrate the couple’s union.

Chauhan, who is Deputy Superintendent of Police in Rajasthan, has won Asian Games silver medal and an individual silver at the world championships, along with two gold, two silver, and three bronze medals at the World Cup stage.

Earlier this year, Chauhan, along with Aman Saini and Abhishek Verma, achieved two wins out of two at the Archery World Cups this season, securing a 232-230 victory over France in the final of the men’s team compound event. At the 38th National Games in February, Chuahan demonstrated impressive skill, emerging victorious in the men’s individual event.

Swati, meanwhile, secured gold at the World Archery University Championships and bronze at the World Archery Youth Championships and Asian Grand Prix Circuit.

In May this year, Swati won the bronze medal in the senior category at the Khelo India Women’s National Ranking Archery Tournament held in Bhopal.

Meanwhile, Chauhan’s Olympic dream is coming true as compound archery is set to make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. He even got a tattoo of the iconic five Olympic rings on his right arm in 2016.

The first-ever Olympic medal for compound archers will be awarded at the 2028 Olympic Games, following the International Olympic Committee’s announcement that the compound mixed team event will be added to the archery programme in Los Angeles.

The compound mixed team event joins the existing five recurve categories – men’s and women’s individual, men’s and women’s team, and mixed team – on the programme, increasing the total number of archery medals to six.

It is the first time since archery’s reintroduction to the Olympic Games in 1972 that a new bow style has been added to the competition.

Archery was reintroduced to the Olympic programme in 1972 with recurve men’s and women’s individual events. Team competitions were added in 1988, and a fifth archery medal, the recurve mixed team, made its debut at Tokyo 2020. The inclusion of the mixed team format for compound archery ensures that gender equality and athlete quotas are maintained in LA.

–IANS

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