Tribune News Service
Vinayak Padmadeo
Ahmedabad, October 5
Atanu Das is a changed man. Now 30, the archer is sporting a lean body and a calmer demeanour.
There are two reasons for this change. Das has finally got over his quarterfinal loss at the Tokyo Olympics. He is also expecting a baby, with wife Deepika Kumari, in two months’ time.
“I have worked on my mental and physical fitness,” Das said. “The baby is also a reason I have calmed down a bit. It is an additional responsibility. Both of us are ready for the baby but then sometimes I am a little scared as to how we will manage (archery) with the baby,” the two-time Olympian added.
After his loss against Japan’s Takahuru Furukawa at the Tokyo Olympics, Das went on a journey to rediscover himself. “The Tokyo loss was a shocker. I had high expectations, and it feels worse knowing that you could have done better,” he said.
“I took a break of two months and I did not touch my bow. I went on holidays to Ladakh and Maldives. It was all to get over the Olympics loss. But the loss lingered on. It took me three months to get over it,” he added.
New plan
Then came the realisation that his approach towards training and the sport needed to change. “Once I was over the loss, I started training again. I did high-altitude training in Shillong for two months. The focus was more on running, to improve my endurance, and core training as it is very important in archery. I was all alone. It was so peaceful,” Das said.
Das added that he was not on any special diet. “I do not eat a lot anyways. One day in a week is my cheat day when I eat a lot,” he said.
Das will face Services’ Gurucharan Besra for the recurve gold medal at the National Games tomorrow. He knows it is one of the first tests of his new approach.
Das said that the Indian archers “give the Olympics a lot of importance”, which creates extra pressure. “We win in the World Cups and the World Championships but lose at the Olympics. There is a lot of difference between performing well and winning. I have started to work on this. I have a long way to go and I have to prepare for the full cycle,” he said.
“Importantly, I want my performance to get better bit by bit. I don’t want to go back to that phase of not taking events like the National Games seriously. It is about competing with yourself, the opponent does not matter. Tomorrow is a very important day. A one-on-one contest is a different feeling,” he added.
‘Weird system’
Das also took a shot at the sport’s administrators in the country. “Our system is a little weird. When we are at the Olympics, we find out that we have to shoot at trials immediately after returning. A day after touchdown, we are at the trials. Archers need time after a big event like the Olympics to first recover and then prepare. I have shared my views on a number of times but nothing has come of it. Now I have decided to only focus on myself,” he said.
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