Legend has it that when William Tell was forced to shoot an apple placed on his son's head with his bow, he split it in a single attempt. Emotional though the father may have been, he was on target.
Many are inspired by the saga.
Archery is all about that accuracy. And in the Indian context, no other archer signifies it more than Dola Banerjee.
The 27-year-old from Baranagar in West Bengal has ruled women's archery in the country since she won her maiden national title at Shillong in 1999. Except for a semi-final defeat in the Punjab National Games, Dola has won virtually everything.
The first Indian archer to qualify for the Olympic Games, Athens in 2004, where she finished 13th, Dola won the Arjuna Award in 2005 and later, a gold medal at the South Asian Fderation Games in Colombo the following year, edging out rival Reena Kumari.
But it was only recently that she etched her name in the top echelons. Her gold medal-winning effort in the women's individual recurve competition at the archery World Cup final in Dubai in November was enough to ensure that she was applauded even in Parliament, which usually is only aware of the feats of our cricketers!
A product of the Tata Archery Academy in Jamshedpur, her triumph marked the first time an Indian claimed the coveted title.
Photograph: Hassan Ammar/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: The hero we owe an apology to
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