21 Facts About Maja Jager

Maja Buskbjerg Jager was born on 22 December 1991 and is a Danish recurve archer.

Maja Jager is a multiple medalist at the European Games and the European Archery Championships.

Maja Jager was introduced to archery at the age of eight, and in her youth practised in a warehouse in Tilst, a venue procured by her father using his local connections as a fruit grower in the Aarhus region.

Maja Jager was later trained by former Danish Olympic archer Ole Gammelgaard.

In 2013 Maja Jager moved to Goesan, South Korea to train under Kim Hyung-Tak, the coach of the Korean archery team at the 1984 Summer Olympics, as part of an agreement between Kim and the Danish Archery Federation.

Maja Jager made her first appearance for the Danish national team at the 2009 Archery World Cup.

Maja Jager later participated in the 2010 European Archery Championships and the 2011 World Archery Championships, where she finished ninth overall in the women's individual competition.

In early 2013 Maja Jager relocated to South Korea at the invitation of 1984 Olympic gold medal-winning coach Kim Hyung-Tak, one of two athletes selected by the Danish Archery Federation to undergo full-time training in the country ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Maja Jager spent six months under Kim's instruction before contesting the 2013 World Championships held in Belek, Turkey.

Maja Jager entered the tournament's individual event with an unimpressive record, having failed to progress beyond the last 32 competitors in an international competition since 2011.

Maja Jager proceeded to deliver a surprising run of results in the knock-out rounds, eliminating both Ki Bo-bae and Yun Ok-hee, the World Archery Federation's number one and number two-ranked archers respectively, to enter the final against Xu Jing, who had achieved a silver medal in the women's team event at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Maja Jager's victory earned her a second medal of the championships, having earlier secured bronze medal in the women's team event with Carina Christiansen and Anne Marie Laursen.

Maja Jager afterwards credited her move to South Korea as being key to winning the individual title.

Maja Jager's title was later credited as popularising the sport of archery in Denmark in the run-up to the 2015 World Championships held in Copenhagen.

Maja Jager combined with Nikolaj Wulff at the 2014 European Archery Championships to win silver in the mixed team recurve event.

Maja Jager later achieved a second silver medal at the European Games the following year as the runner-up to Germany's Karina Winter in the women's individual event.

In June 2016 Maja Jager was defeated by Christiansen in the Olympic qualifying tournament, eliminating her from contention for the following month's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

At the 2018 European Archery Championships Maja Jager finished runner-up in the women's individual event to Turkey's Yasemin Anagoz, who outscored her in a one-arrow shoot-off.

Maja Jager combined with Randi Degn and Anne Marie Laursen at the 2019 European Games in June to win bronze in the women's team competition, but was herself knocked out of the women's individual event at the last sixteen stage.

That same month Maja Jager secured qualification for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, marking her second appearance at the Games and her country's first in the archery competitions since 2012.

The outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic would later see the 2020 Olympics postponed until July 2021, and at the rescheduled Games Maja Jager was eliminated by Russia's Ksenia Perova in the second round of the women's individual event.