Tshering Choden (archer)

Tshering Choden (born 1 January 1979 or 6 July 1980[1]: 4 ) is an archer from Bhutan who competed at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics.

Choden entered the 2004 Summer Olympics with a world ranking of 176.[1]: 4  She was one of two Bhutanese athletes taking part in the Games, the other being with fellow archer Tashi Peljor,[2] and was selected as Bhutan's flagbearer for the Games' opening ceremony.[3] Choden began the women's individual event with fifty-fourth place in the preliminary 72-arrow ranking round, scoring 600 points from 720.[1]: 7  She delivered a surprise result in the opening elimination round with victory over China's Lin Sang by a margin of three points,[4] becoming the first Bhutanese archer ever to win a match at the Olympics.[3] Choden faced India's Reena Kumari in the second round, the pair posting identical scores of 134 points over the regulation eighteen arrows. On the subsequent tie-breaking arrow Kumari outscored Choden by seven points to four.[2] Choden blamed her nerves for shooting so low.[5]

Choden retired from archery in 2005 but returned to the sport as a coach in 2007.[6] She coached the only Bhutanese archer at the 2012 Olympic Games, Sherab Zam.[6][7]

She appeared in the 2004 Arte documentary Die Bogenschützin von Bhutan.[8]

  1. ^ a b c "Official Results of the 2004 Olympic Games – Archery". LA84 Foundation. International Olympic Committee. 2004. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Korean archer equals record". BBC Sport. 17 August 2004. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Bhutan's Tshering Choden graduates from international coaching development programme". World Archery Federation. 1 May 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Williamson wins in Athens". BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  5. ^ "SUMMER 2004 GAMES: NOTEBOOK; Two-Year Suspension of American Sprinter Is Affirmed". The New York Times. Associated Press Press; Reuters. 18 August 2004. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  6. ^ a b Goldsmith, Belinda (25 May 2012). "Olympics-Happiness for Bhutan Olympians is not golden". Reuters. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  7. ^ "London 2012: Bhutanese archer trains alone at University of Warwick". BBC News. 18 July 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  8. ^ Riedel, Holger (2004). Die Bogenschützin von Bhutan [The Archer of Bhutan] (Documentary) (in German). Arte.