“USC Unsung Heroes” is a column by Anthony Bottino that talks about elite USC athletes who aren’t on one of the school’s Division 1 teams.
The Olympics have countless sports. Some are so niche that some people have never even heard of them. Sports like these often require very specific training routines, and athletes need extreme precision and accuracy to compete. It may sound intense for sports that don’t always receive a lot of attention, but Vikram Gedipudi wanted to embrace this in the form of archery.
Gedipudi, 19, is a sophomore studying economics and math. While Vikram chose USC because of academics, social life and the campus, he also chose USC because it has a club archery team, while his second choice, NYU, does not.
Born and raised in San Jose, California, Gedipudi lived a normal life before college. He prioritized school and more mainstream sports like football and basketball. So, the question is, where does archery fit into this? How did he become an archer?
“I did Boy Scouts, so that was my first exposure to it, but I started watching it in the Olympics. I thought it was really cool and wanted to do it.” Gedipudi said. “I started practicing in late 2016, and when I went to my first few tournaments, I was doing pretty well at them.”
From the moment Gedipudi encountered Olympic archery, he was fascinated and wanted to expand his archery experience beyond just Boy Scouts. Not too long after, he went out and bought his first bow to start practicing on his own. His first challenge was figuring out where to train.
Training for archery can be challenging, because it lacks the same easy access to training facilities that other high school or club teams have. Gedipudi had to search for places to train and eventually found a Junior Olympics Archery Development program, or JOAD for short.
This JOAD program is what helped Gedipudi begin his journey in archery. He trained and competed with them, which helped him grow as an archer. He learned more about how the sport operates and attended tournaments with JOAD. While he was affiliated with JOAD, all scoring and placements were done individually.
JOAD also taught Gedipudi about the different distances at which people shoot. Olympians shoot at targets 70 meters away, but Gedipudi’s division shoots at smaller targets just 55 meters away. The tournaments he attends typically involve shooting 30 arrows a day over the course of two to three days.
“I think it’s a cool concept being able to hit something so far away,” Gedipudi said. “I also like how peaceful it is. Typically I go to outdoor ranges and it’s very peaceful. I get to drive out of the city and suburbs where I live.”
When Vikram first started shooting, he did it for fun. However, he soon realized that he had significant potential in the sport. He began taking it more seriously, challenging himself by competing in regional tournaments and even the state tournament. With each competition, he gained more experience and improved steadily. What truly marked a turning point was when he experienced a growth spurt.
“I’ve been a podium placer a lot,” Gedipudi said. “In either 2018 or 2019, I was 2nd in California and 13th in the nation in USA Archery Indoor Nationals.”
When Vikram achieved a national ranking, he wasn’t sure how challenging it would be to maintain that position, but it was at this point that his determination and drive truly ignited. Everything appeared to be on the upswing for Vikram, with high hopes of representing Team USA, until tragedy struck, and he suffered a severe injury.
In addition to archery, Vikram was also a member of his high school football team. At the end of 2020, he tore his pectoral muscle, which rendered him unable to shoot for a significant period. He couldn’t practice at all for six weeks, and when he eventually resumed practice, it took some time to regain his previous form.
In the grand scheme of his injuries, the torn pectoral muscle was not the most severe, but what truly affected him was tearing his labrum a year later. This injury sidelined Gedipudi from competing for nearly two years. During this period, he had the option to continue competing but possibly make the injury worse. He faced a choice: risk further injury by shooting or take a break from archery to allow his muscle to fully heal. Gedipudi chose the latter, as he believed that by prioritizing his health, he could always return to archery in the future, whereas still competing could have had severe consequences.
Despite these setbacks, Gedipudi maintained a positive outlook.
“The most important thing is to always be open-minded and optimistic,” Gedipudi said. “If you start thinking negatively, it is hard to get out of that state. I knew I could get back to where I was.”
Now that he is healthy and back to competing, Gedipudi is ready to get back to training to make Team USA. Regaining the muscle memory and repetition is going to be the key for his training, but the biggest challenge he faces is the mental aspect.
“You have to be on point with every single shot with no lapses,” Gedipudi said. “That’s going to be the biggest thing — getting back into the mindset to do the same thing every time and doing it well.”
Gedipudi has a long road ahead of him, but the former 13th-ranked junior archer in the country has full confidence that by the time he graduates, he will be shooting for Team USA.
“Yes, I think I can make the team. I was close already for Junior Team USA and I had only been shooting one or two years at that point,” Gedipudi said. “As long as I don’t get catastrophically injured, then yes, I think I can make it.”
Gedipudi is fully driven and prepared to go through lots of training, and with the help of USC Club Archery, he will be better than ever in no time. At this point it’s only a matter of time until we see Gedipudi on Team USA.
“USC Unsung Heroes” runs every other Monday.