India, April 10 -- From the heartland of Satara's archery talent hub that has produced reigning world champions Aditi Swami and Ojas Deotale, to Central Florida where World Cup participant Jyothi Surekha Vennam felt a rush of joy, compound archery's Olympic stamp got India's top archers buzzing. It may just be the one mixed event for now at the 2028 LA Olympics, yet there were no mixed emotions. For, India's compound archers have had to wait long for this. "Very, very long," Vennam said.

This is an archer who has gobbled up multiple medals from various elite tournaments: World Championships, World Cups, Asian Games, Asian Championships, World Youth Championships. All along the Olympics would not add compound to its recurve fold. There wa...