Archers

Three-time Olympian Deepika Kumari has dominated the Indian archery scene for quite some time now. Currently ranked no. 1 in the world, she has bagged several medals, including an Asian Championship gold. The daughter of a auto-rickshaw driver, she grew up practicing archery with bamboo bows and arrows.

Initially a U.S. Air Force cadet, Erika Eiffel later established herself as an award-winning archer. She also established OS Internationale, an organization for objectum sexuals, or people who develop relationships with inanimate objects. She was featured in the documentary Married to the Eiffel Tower, which explored her attraction to the Eiffel Tower.

The son of Theseus, Hippolytus was a Greek mythical figure, popularized by Euripides in his play Hippolytus. Girls in Troezen offered him a lock of their hair before getting married. His neglect of Aphrodite led her to cause his stepmother Phaedra to fall for him and eventually led him to his death.

Part of Chinese folklore, Hou Yi, also known as Shen Yi, is the Chinese god of archery. Equipped with a tiger bone bow, he is said to have saved humanity by shooting down 9 out of 10 suns. His wife, the moon goddess Chang’e, eventually took away the elixir of immortality from him.

Lars Andersen is a Danish painter and archer. He graduated from the School of Visual Art and received private training under popular painter and graphic designer Otto Frello. As an archer, he has posted many videos on YouTube, some of which have gone viral, receiving millions of views. His videos have also been criticized for their historical and scientific inaccuracies. 

Known as The Little Wonder, Lottie Dod gained fame as a remarkable tennis player and a five-time Wimbledon Ladies' Singles champion. Registered as the most versatile sportswoman in the Guinness Book of Records, she was also skilled in a host of sports, such as skiing, golf, archery, and field hockey.

Song dynasty archery teacher Zhou Tong remains a legendary Chinese hero. Originally from Henan, he was later hired to train Chinese military general Yue Fei in military tactics of archery as a boy. However, later fictional accounts of Zhou Tong described him as Yue Fei’s adoptive father.

Zahra Nemati is an Iranian Olympic and Paralympic archer best known for winning gold medals for Iran in major competitions like Paralympic Games and World Para-archery Championships. Nemati competed in taekwondo prior to a car accident that left her paralyzed. Zahra Nemati was the flag bearer for her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics.