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Natalya ERDYNIYEVA comes from one of the brightest archery dynasties from Ulan-Ude, Buryatia. She was introduced to archery by her parents at the age of 12, in year 2000. She became a member of the junior Russian team in 2004, and started to take part in major competitions. The young ERDYNIYEVA rose to fame in the year 2007. At 18-19, she placed second at the World Cup stage 2 in Varese and won the stage 3 in Antalya. She won the individual bronze medal at her first World Championships, and placed third again at the World Cup Final the same year. These achievements allowed her to reach the No. 1 spot of the World Ranking in 2007.
Despite her young age, ERDYNIYEVA quickly became the leader of a renewed Russian recurve women’s team. She led her team to several medals and places of honour, but had mixed results at the individual level. At the 2008 Olympic Games, she was one of the non-Korean favourites, but placed “only” 14th individually.
ERDYNIYEVA, who follows the Buryat ritual of burning incense before a competition, was back on top of the scene in 2010: she won the two gold medals at stake at the European Championships (team and individual).
However her successes did not guarantee her an Olympic spot. Despite being one of the most decorated Russian archers of the quadriennum, she was not selected for the Russian Olympic Team.
The 24-year-old made a successful comeback to the team in 2013. She won the Russian National Indoor Championships with high scores that gave her confidence. In March, she won the individual title at the European Indoor Championships in Rzeszow: after topping qualifications, she defeated multiple world indoor champion Natalya VALEEVA (ITA) 7-3 in the gold medal match.
The Russian successfully combined archery with University studies: she completed a first degree in Business and Management at the Buryat State University, and a second degree in English at the same University in December 2012. She credits numerous travels to archery competitions as a major opportunity to improve her English.
With her studies behind her, ERDYNIYEVA is now a fulltime athlete. She is trained by her parents, a situation that has, she says, advantages and disadvantages. Her goal in the sport is ambitious.
“Sport teaches you to silently endure the failures and to head on to the next goal”, she told Russian newspaper Infpol. “As an athlete, of course, I dream of competing in the Olympic Games. I want a gold. I want to know what it feels like to hold an Olympic award.”
The Russian has two goals besides the sport: to find an interesting job as a manager, and to start a family. She says she would introduce her children to dance as a first choice, and then to archery! Her advice to young athletes is the following: “In order to reach something, it is necessary to be simply the best. Strive to win all that you can, so that you can have better chances at competing in major international events.”
Click here for an extensive interview with ERDYNIYEVA in Russian.
Biography Extract
Natalya ERDYNIYEVA (RUS) – Born on 6 August 1988
1st Individual European Indoor Championships - Rzeszow 2013 9th Individual European Championships – Amsterdam 2012 2nd Team World Cup Porec 2011 1st Individual European Championships Rovereto 2010 1st Team European Championships Rovereto 2010 3rd Team World Championships Ulsan 2009 2nd Team World Cup Shanghai 2009 2nd Team World Cup Antalya 2009 3rd Team Indoor World Championships Rzeszow 2009 14th Individual Olympic Games Beijing 2008 3rd Team European Championships Vittel 2008 2nd Individual World Cup Santo Domingo 2008 3rd Individual World Cup Final Dubai 2007 3rd Individual World Championships Leipzig 2007 1st Individual World Cup Antalya 2007 2nd Individual World Cup Varese 2007Find more result information on Natalya ERDYNIYEVA (and all other archers) on the World Archery website.
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