Athlete of the Week: Khatuna LORIG (USA)

27 March 2013

Lausanne

Real name:

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Khatuna LORIG won a bronze medal in the team competition for the Unified Team of the former Soviet Union at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. After the Soviet Union dissolved, she competed for her native country Georgia at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. She made the decision to move to the United States and competed for the USA at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where she finished 5th individually. Four years later, at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, she placed 4th individually. The same year, Khatuna LORIG received international attention for coaching Jennifer LAWRENCE for the leading role in "The Hunger Games" movie. When competing at the 1992 Olympic Games, Khatuna LORIG was pregnant with son Levani, who is following in his mother’s footsteps and has become a competitive junior recurve archer. Mother and son hope to compete together at the 2016 Olympic Games.

How come the Olympic Games always seem to bring out the best in you?

Because the Olympics brings together the very best of competitors, and I always try to do my best. I am not saying that the World Cups are not important, it is just that I promised myself the day I picked up a bow that I would one day wear Olympic gold and I am dedicated to train smarter and harder to achieve that goal.

Flagbearer for the USA at the Closing Ceremony Beijing 2008

Please describe the major changes since your first Olympic Games?
In my first Olympics in Barcelona 1992, I was a kid. I was naive. I did not realise how lucky I was to qualify for the Russian team. I was so conditioned and trained to compete that I did not view the Olympics as anything more than another competition.

I competed for the Republic of Georgia in 1996. The difference was that Georgia did not have a training programme for archers and the country showed no support. I found myself training in my basement by candlelight. I did not even go to the Opening Ceremony because we had to shoot the very next day and our coach insisted that we skip the ceremony in order to prepare for shooting. Neither Russia nor Georgia did allow free speech or free will. I really wanted to attend the Opening Ceremony, nobody asked me what I wanted.

I moved to the United States after the 1996 Olympics, but I did not receive my US citizenship in time for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. I chose to compete for the Republic of Georgia.

In 2004 I still had not received my citizenship and I failed to qualify for the Olympics. I was a single mom raising my son and I had to sacrifice training to hold a full time job.

Making the 2008 team was a dream come true. I was finally in the right place with the right people. I felt who I was, and what I did was finally appreciated. The United States provides their athletes with anything they desire for training.

London 2012 was an amazing experience, but no medal. It only means that I need to get ready for 2016.

No medal, however you achieved the best ever individual result of your 20-year Olympic career in London. How do you explain this?

I train hard. I know my competitors are getting younger and younger and I need to train harder, well, smarter now. I still train just as hard, but I have learned to take better care of myself. The quality of my training is better. I do not waste a moment, I do not waste a shot.
I also received great support from the United States Olympic Committee, US Archery, and Easton. And The Olympic Training Center is a dream place to train. I have everything I need here to win the Olympic gold.

What is your future in archery?
More competitions, more Olympics, and more coaching. I love challenges. If I lose, I train harder. My coaching allows me to share my 28 years of experience with my students. It makes me happy to see their face happy smiles and appreciation.
I will never be a quitter. I will keep going and keep trying because I will never say I did not try hard enough. I want to be known as one person who did not know how to quit.

What is your current preparation in archery?

I train every day and workout every other day. Currently I am training on and off at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. I am getting my strength back and hoping to have a very successful 2013.

What is your current involvement with Hollywood or The Hunger Games?

I am not involved with the Hunger Games currently but in future, who knows? Two more movies are coming out and I would be glad to offer my support and service to make archery shine in the world. I was recently featured on E Network’s Live from the Red Carpet and had a great time. Who knows what will come next? I just enjoy being a part of the heightened awareness around our sport.

How is your son, junior archer Levan ONASHVILI, doing in the sport?

My son is doing great and training as hard as his mom. He hopes to make it to the 2016 Olympics and be better than me!

How do you help each other in the sport? What are the advantages and challenges?

I have trained my son from the first day he picked up a bow. He knows my form and technique inside and out. We help each other as much as we can. He is my best friend and that helps to balance me. He is a good kid and I am happy he is following in my footsteps. Coaching my son is not easy, he argues a lot with me, and as his coach, I am not happy about that. We will probably always work on finding a way to balance coach/student and mom/son. After all, who can he trust to coach his shooting more than me?

You are one of the most active archers online, with a personal website and a strong presence on the social media. What benefits does this bring you as an athlete?

I love my fans, and I like to make them happy! I like to share my training experience and have immediate feedback on pretty much everything. The more support I get, the better I feel, the better I feel, the better I shoot.

One of my dreams after London was to begin coaching, and not just to be any coach: I want to be the best coach in the world. After all, I did train in three different countries and I am currently working with one of the best coaches in the world, KiSik LEE. I have always loved kids and with my coaching, I not only get to coach them, I get to inspire them. Archery is a unique sport everyone can enjoy.

My new sponsor, Purple Crayons, has been a great help in my online presence. They built the website that I desired and that I can update myself. They have worked with me to bring new ideas to my social media and these ideas have been received well. I had always imagined an online store with archery apparel; they helped me make that happen. I have more ideas and they are the type of company that listens and supports me so I have a feeling there will be some more things to look for from me online.

Keep up with my training for the 2016 Olympics. Visit my official website or join me on my facebook page. Follow me on Twitter: @khatunalorig

Biography Extract:

Khatuna LORIG (USA) – Born on 1 January 1974

4th Individual

Olympic Games – London

2012 2nd Team

Pan American Games – Guadalajara

2011 1st

Mixed Team

Archery World Cup Stage 4 – Shanghai

2011 2nd Team

Archery World Cup Stage 2 – Antalya

2011 1st Individual