Purnima Mahato is an Indian archer and archery coach from

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...

, India. She has won the Indian national archery championships. She was a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

for the Indian national team at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

and was selected to coach the team at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. She was awarded

Dronacharya award The Dronacharya Award, officially known as Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games, is sports coaching honour of the Republic of India. The award is named after Drona, often referred as "Dronacharya" or "Guru Drona", a cha ...

from

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

for 2013 on 29 August 2013. She was conferred with the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

2024, India's fourth highest civilian award, for her work in the field of Sports.

Career

As a child, Mahato watched archery at a range in Birsanagar, Jamshedpur. She trained there before moving to a range at Burmamines, Jamshedpur when the one in Birsanagar closed. She made it to the Indian national team in 1992, and moved to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

to train with the team. As an archer, Mahato earned medals in both national and international archery competitions. She was also an Indian national champion. At the 1993 International Archery Championship, she earned a gold medal in the team event. At the 1994 Pune National Games, she won six

gold medals A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in archery. She competed at the 1994 Asian Games but did not medal. In 1997 at the National Championships, she earned two gold medals and set two national records. At the 1999 Indian National Games,

Dola Banerjee Dola Banerjee (; born 2 June 1980) is an Indian sportswoman who competes in archery. Early life Dola Banerjee is daughter of Ashok Banerjee and Kalpana Banerjee. She was born in Baranagar near Kolkata. She studied in Baranagar Rajkumari Memori ...

broke a national record Mahato had set two years earlier in the 30 metre archery event.

Coaching

Mahato is an archery coach. Starting in 1994, she coached at the Tata Archery Academy, a position she had held as of 2012. Archers she has personally coached include 2012 Summer Olympian

Deepika Kumari Deepika Kumari (born 13 June 1994) is an Indian professional archer who competes in the recurve category. A four-time Olympian and two-time World Archery Championships silver medallist, Deepika is one of the most decorated Indian archer and th ...

. Mahato has been a coach for Indian national teams at several events including the 2005 Senior World Outdoor Archery Championship at Spain, where her team earned a silver medal. She also coached the Indian side at the 2007 Senior Asian Archery Championship in China, where the men's team she coached finished first and the women's team she coached finished third. She was an assistant coach for India at the

. She also coached the Indian side at the 2008 World Cup in Croatia, where her archers earned a silver medal and a bronze medal at the event. She coached India at the 2009 World Youth Archery Championship. She coached the three Indian archers at the 2010 Archery World Cup Grand. She coached the Indian national team at the

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), were a regional multi-sport event held from November 12 to 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (although several events commenced ear ...

, where her archers earned two bronze medals in the individual events. She coached the Indian national team at the

2010 Commonwealth games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

, with her archers earning three gold and two bronze medals. At the Global Sports Summit TURF 2011, she was named the coach of the year. She got

Ram Dayal Munda Ram Dayal Munda (23 August 1939 – 30 September 2011), known as R. D. Munda, was an Indian scholar and regional music exponent. He was awarded the Padma Shri of the year 2010 for his contribution to the field of art. He was a vice-chancellor ...

Award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

for BestCoach of the year from

Government of Jharkhand The Government of Jharkhand also known as the State Government of Jharkhand, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Jharkhand and its Districts of Jharkhand, 24 districts. It consists of an exec ...

Olympic Day Run Olympic Day Run is an international Olympic Movement activity promoting mass participation of sport held in June organized by National Olympic Committees (NOCs). The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was formally established on 23 June 1894 t ...

celebrations, 23 June 2012 at

Ranchi Ranchi (; ) is the capital city and also the largest district by population of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern ...

. Mahato was selected to represent India at the

as the national team's coach. Mahato represented India at

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

as the national team's coach. Mahato was selected to represent India at

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

as coach of India Archery Team.

Awards

Purnima Mahato was awarded

from

for 2024 on 22 April 2024. Purnima Mahato was awarded

from

for 2013 on 29 August 2013. Purnima Mahato is the first woman of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

awarded with Prestigious

Dronacharya Award The Dronacharya Award, officially known as Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games, is sports coaching honour of the Republic of India. The award is named after Drona, often referred as "Dronacharya" or "Guru Drona", a cha ...

. President Draupadi Murmu honoured Jharkhand's Purnima Mahato, Padma Shri award in New Delhi.

References

External links

Purnima Mahato on Twitter

Purnima Mahato on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahato, Purnima Living people Indian female archers Sportspeople from Jamshedpur Recipients of the Dronacharya Award Sportswomen from Jharkhand Sport in Jamshedpur 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Year of birth missing (living people) Archers from Jharkhand Archers at the 1994 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for India Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports