In Indian archery, it is often the names of Deepika Kumari, Atanu Das and Jyothi Surekha Vennam that dominate conversations around elite performers in their respective disciplines. Deepika remains evergreen and ice-cool under pressure, as seen during the recent World Cup, while Jyothi has firmly established herself as the face of India’s compound revolution.
And then, there is Rishabh Yadav.
With his unmissable bright smile and youthful charm, Rishabh brings a fresh vibrance to a sport that has often made India proud on the global stage. But there remains one mountain Indian archery is yet to conquer: the Olympics.
India is still searching for its first Olympic medal in archery, with the fourth-place finish in the mixed team event at the 2024 Summer Olympics serving as its closest brush with history. But Rishabh believes he belongs to the generation that can finally rewrite that story.
What started as a way to improve concentration for studies has now transformed into a full-fledged pursuit of Olympic glory. At 23, Rishabh is already ranked seventh in the world in the men’s compound category, and 2025 turned out to be the finest season of his young career.
Across three competitions and multiple disciplines, he finished on the podium eight times.
He claimed two individual bronze medals, secured two golds and a bronze in the men’s team category, and also picked up one gold, one silver and one bronze in mixed team events.
With compound archery set to make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Summer Olympics, and the Asian Games looming large on the horizon, Rishabh now finds himself entering the defining stretch of his career. One he hopes will culminate in an Olympic medal for India in 2028.
“I believe India is very close to changing the story of not winning an Olympic medal in archery because the country has been making significant strides on the compound side. The recurve side is also growing hand in hand. The good thing now is that with compound added to the Olympics, the pressure is equally distributed between recurve and compound. So, I believe LA 2028 can be a breakthrough for Indian archery, where we can expect more than one medal,” Rishabh Yadav told IndiaToday.in.
LEARNING FROM HIS IDOLS
In previous interviews, Rishabh had revealed how, as a 14-year-old, he was inspired by the story of Abhishek Verma and gravitated towards the compound discipline. Today, he competes alongside the very man he once looked up to — and even edged past him to clinch bronze at the 2025 World Games.
Then comes his mixed team partner, Jyothi, with whom he now shares a world record.
At Madrid 2025, the fourth stop of the Hyundai Archery World Cup season, Rishabh topped the compound men’s qualification standings and teamed up with Jyothi Surekha Vennam to script history. The duo combined for 1431 points, with Rishabh contributing 716, to set a new world record in mixed team qualification.
But the archery prodigy admitted the moment arrived completely out of the blue.
“We didn’t expect it because the world record was broken during the qualification round, and the men’s and women’s events were being held on different sides of the field,” he said.
So when we met during the equipment check after the competition – because there is a mandatory equipment check for the top eight athletes from either side – we were happy that we had secured the top position in both the men’s and women’s sections and were going to compete together as a mixed team. That’s when the news came that we had broken the previous world record held by Denmark by two points, scoring a collective 1,431 out of 1,440.”
Rishabh credits the Inspire Institute of Sport for helping strengthen his bond with Jyothi as the duo continue to rise together on the global stage.
“So, from the first match we played together as a mixed team to now, there’s a significant growth in how we have communicated with each other, as well as now we train together at Inspire Institute of Sports.”
“We have been having that exposure to compete and train together, which has definitely helped us build that strong partnership and make more strategies to work as a team together,” said Rishabh.
And the biggest lessons from Jyothi and Abhishek have now become the guiding principles of his own career — stay grounded, keep working and embrace the journey.
“Keep yourself grounded, no matter if you have won anything in your life. You can always find them training on the ground even after winning. The process never stopped for them.”
“You keep working towards the next thing. What has happened, has happened. If it’s good, it’s very good. If it’s not good, OK, you learn from it and you move forward. Another thing that I’ve learnt from them, which is very crucial, is that you should enjoy this journey, be happy around it. It’s not pressure or not a work that you have to look up to. It’s something that you enjoy,” said Rishabh.
BEING IN ZEN MODE
In archery, where the smallest lapse in concentration can separate glory from heartbreak, composure becomes everything. And for Rishabh, calmness begins with something as simple as breathing.
“I would always focus on my breathing, and it’s not something that we stimulate during a competition. It’s something that we try to do even in practice, also, doing various drills, various exercises to keep ourselves calm during such situations,” said Rishabh.
Once again, the Inspire Institute of Sport has played a major role in shaping not just his game, but also his mindset away from the field.
“Inspire Institute of Sports has a lot of high performance directors in the various fields like strength and conditioning, physiological, psychological, and nutritional. So all these branches of sports are very important for an athlete to maintain or like uh progress in their preparation. So that’s something that significantly helps us grow. They have the experience, they have worked with a lot of Olympic athletes and Olympic champions like Neeraj Chopra as well,” said Rishabh.
Off the field, Rishabh finds his peace in the simplest of things — breathing exercises, reading books, photography and long walks around the IIS campus. Mostly because, as he says himself, he simply cannot sit still.
“Outside archery, I’m very fond of breathing and reading books, as well as nature photography or something like that. I cannot sit in a room and just stay still.”
“I would just go out and explore where I am. Like right now, I’m here at the Inspire Institute of Sports, so I would just go out for a walk rather than sitting in my room. Seeing other people compete, like the swimmers, and other athletes, is very motivating for me,” said Rishabh.
OLYMPIC HUSTLE
Rishabh’s road to the Olympics will next pass through the Asian Games later this year, and his focus is already locked on fine-tuning the physical side of his game ahead of the biggest challenge of his career so far.
He believes his technical game is steadily falling into place, which is why strength and conditioning have now become his biggest priorities.
“I’m more focused on my physical aspect, like the strength and conditioning part of my body, which is the one part that I’m more focused on because the technical part, we have pretty much figured out, and we are continuously growing on that side.”
“So I wanted to hand in and have a strength and conditioning programme, which helps me grow out of this and achieve the goals that I’m looking forward to. And again, the long-term goal that we have is two years ahead of us. I believe now working on such aspects, so that we can see results from early 2027 and have a strong finish at the 2028 LA Olympics,” said Rishabh.
And when Rishabh speaks about Olympic success, his eyes are firmly fixed on the mixed team event — the discipline he believes can finally break Indian archery’s Olympic curse.
Rather than chasing individual glory, he wants to be part of the team that delivers India its long-awaited medal moment.
“In the Olympics, we have a mixed team event. It’s all about the mixed team event. And at the Asian Games also, it’s a mixed team qualifier. So I would be more than happy to aim for that one specific event and if I have to be on the mixed team, I have to be the top person from the country to play. So it’s uh also adds up to my Olympic and individual achievements in the end,” concluded Rishabh.
