Katharina Bauer’s Olympic dreams come true after huge setback in 2021
In February, Katharina Bauer reached the top, becoming the first German woman archer to be named world number one.
The 27-year-old archer looked to repeat on an impressive season, which brought her to the top of the Sanlida World Ranking. But there was one more goal to come.
Indeed, Bauer had failed to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which caused a huge mental setback.
“I was working really hard before, and I also shot really good scores at training,” she recalled. “I had a good World Cup in Lausanne that year, but I felt a lot of pressure in myself.”
“During our Olympic trials, the pressure went kind of too high, and I lost everything.”
The sorrow might have been even more painful when her teammates achieved bronze in the team event in Japan. And Bauer’s drive vapoured. She couldn’t find happiness on the field.
“I lost the fun of shooting and confidence.”
“As soon as the Olympics were over, I felt free again. I started enjoying everything. I was happy while shooting, practising, without any pressure. That’s the biggest change I made.”
That grievous experience turned out to be beneficial for Katharina. Her career speeded up after missing Tokyo. She demonstrated that in 2022 and at the beginning of 2023, when she climbed to the top.
“I have another mindset now. I focus now on myself, on my shot routine, not on results or the future,” she explained.
Bauer’s world collapsed in a moment, and what was supposed to be a wonderful tip of a good season became an unfulfilled dream.
“It was a big reset. I shot really, really well the months before the Olympic Games. I was not sure I would go there, but I felt like it was the best season of my life, and I could crown it with the Olympics. ”
“And then it was like a wall in front of me because I didn’t make it to Tokyo.”
The German finally found again the will to build on that experience. She changed her attitude completely.
“At first, I was totally upset. I thought about quitting archery, but after a few days, I realised I didn’t do archery because of the Olympics, competitions or medals but because of enjoying it.”
“Since I’m thinking like that, everything is a lot easier.”
Bauer still dreamt about the Olympics – in Paris next year – but didn’t treat it as must.
She takes a much softer approach.
The goal was to reach the Olympic quota but not to make it an obsession.
“Of course, it’s a big thing. But I try not to think about it,” she said a few months ago. “There’s still a lot of time to go. I try to focus on every competition and every month. Step by step.”
“It’s like a dream. Last years, this dream was even bigger, because I was thinking just about going there and what it would be like. After I failed, the dream became a bit smaller, but it was still a dream.”
“I started having also other dreams like World Cup medals or a medal at the European Championships. And last season, I made some of these dreams come true,” Katharina claimed.
The Olympic dream came true when home nation Germany took the recurve women’s team title at the Hyundai World Archery Championship in Berlin just weeks ago, booking a quota for the Games in 2024.
Bauer, however, doesn’t want to be just a participant in the French capital. She is eager to enjoy and fight for top results in Paris.
“I don’t want just to go there. I want to have a very good time there. I would like to be on the same level as before and just continue my way. It would be really cool.”
Katharina Bauer is set to make her Olympic debut in Paris next year.
