Beijing Or Bust

New Blog

2008-11-18T15:49:00.004Z

As mentioned in my previous post, i have started a new Blog.

The 7:20 To London.

I hope to update it fairly regularly, hope you enjoy it.

All good things............

2008-10-09T19:44:00.005Z

It's getting near the time for me to assign this blog to the archives as we are going into the new Olympic/Paralympic cycle.

I of course will be starting a new blog to document my journey to London in 2012 (hopefully)

I'm a bit stuck for a title at the moment though, i'm looking for something similarly catchy to "Beijing or Bust" so if anyone has any suggestions please leave a comment for me. Oh and " London or Bust" just doesn't work so don't even think about it :)

Hi Speed Video

2008-09-22T16:11:00.009Z

Here are a couple of high-speed videos of me shooting taken in China. The best way to view them is to download them and play them on Quicktime player. This way you can watch them frame by frame using the arrow keys on your keyboard.

Consolation.

2008-09-14T22:13:00.005Z

The elimination matches are over and the guy I lost to went on to win the Gold medal, so now i don't feel quite so bad as a lot of good archers lost to him also.

Today is my last shoot here, It's the team rounds and we face Thailand in our first match, I know we have it in us to win a medal if the 3 of us shoot as well as we can.

A huge thank you for all the comments left after my last post, I did feel really low but they gave me a tremendous lift...Thank you

I'm so sorry!

2008-09-11T08:52:00.003Z

I did not shoot to my ability, no excuses. I did try my hardest but it just didn't happen for me. All credit to my opponent, he was methodical whereas my first arrow was a 3 and i was constantly playing catch-up, at this level you cannot get away with arrows like that.

I apologise for letting everyone down, i've had fantastic support throughout this whole event and i only wish i could have progressed further and made you proud...i'm so sorry!!

Pinch me!!

2008-09-10T10:42:00.008Z

I got called off the line ready for my match and i was feeling ok, a bit jittery as to be expected but nothing worse than i am normally in Head to head matches. 5 minutes to go and i was inside the stadium, weird still no nerves, if anything i was quite excited to get out there and shoot.

The time came to go in, wow the stands were nearly full and a nice cheer went up when they announced my name..this is great i thought. I was up for it!!

Being the higher ranked archer I elected to shoot first, the hooter went, i shot.. a 7 to the left, hmm not too bad considering. next arrow, a 7 to the right, ok i can live with that. Third arrow, in the 9, that's more like it. I relaxed back off the line and saw my opponent had shot 9, 9 and 7, hmm not good. That's when i all went belly-up. He shot another arrow!! i'm thinking "noooo.. do we shoot 6 arrows in an end?" A quick look at my coach reassured me that it was only 3 arrows and that my opponent had shot too many arrows???

The problem was that his scored stayed up on the scoreboard. The next 3 arrows were not too great from me, and i was falling further behind. On the 3rd end i was still distracted from the events of the first end, I came up to aim and my fingers just relaxed, the arrow went sailing down the range and landed in the grass below the target. OMG I MISSED THE TARGET!! in front of 2000 people. All that was going through my head was "I'm a better archer than this, I'm not THAT bad". My second arrow went straight in the 10, and so did my third, there see i told you!

By the fourth and final end i had resigned myself to defeat but wanted to do my best still, i put in a beautiful group of three arrows all touching each other but sadly low in the 8. I congratulated my opponent and left the arena.

Once outside, i was ushered towards the media where i did one "what went wrong" interview. I was halfway through my 2nd TV interview (with the BBC) when my team manager came running up to my screaming "You've won, You've done it" His score had been adjusted due to the fact he shot too many arrows in the first end and i took the match by 1 point! The cameras were still rolling, wow what a scoop, so from being asked how i felt to go out so early, i was being asked how i felt now i've heard i've won..it was surreal in the extreme. Lou was up on the walkway so i yelled up to tell her i had won and the tv crew asked who she was, when i told her they went legging it up there to get her views. They were buzzing as much as us about it, look out for it on telly as it's unbelievable.

So the net result is that i'm through to the last 16 and shooting again tomorrow, please let it be uneventful, i don't think my nerves could take another day like today.

BBC Article HERE, see what i mean...bizarre!!!

Don't worry

2008-09-09T11:11:00.006Z

I shot well in the first half and was in 5th place but in the 2nd half I had one terrible end which totally hosed any chance i had of getting a top 8 ranking. I ended up in 11th place which on reflection is actually a VERY good thing. What it means is that i am shooting against the no. 22 ranked archer tomorrow in Court A,

If i win that match, on Thursday i will be shooting against an Archer that has had over a day to dwell on his upcoming match and will be shooting for the first time in an eliminator here. Whereas I (if succesful) will have already won a match in there and should therefore be more relaxed and confident...see? don't worry, it's all good :)

What a night.

2008-09-07T23:17:00.008Z

Sorry for not posting yesterday but I was not sure what to write. I'm still not sure so i'll just ramble and see how it turns out (hmmmm... no change there then :)

I've heard quite a few comments about the opening ceremony, all of them good thankfully. To me it was yet another mind-blowing experience, this thing just gets better and better. Saturday night surpassed my expectations by miles, the noise was deafening as we were all waiting outside and there were fireworks lighting up the sky, helecopters circling overhead and a rather enthusiastic crowd of mainly chinese cheering at us and waving frantically as we made our way towards the stadium.

We were the 80th country in the queue to enter and the closer we got to the stadium the louder the noise got. I think one of the most exciting moments was when we were in the tunnel waiting to be led in, we could see and hear the crowd and the noise and atmosphere was just unbelievable.

Walking into the stadium was a moment i will never forget, it seemed as though the crowd just errupted, I tried to wave, walk and look around at the same time but i think i was in a mild state of shock. I still can't believe that just four years ago i was watching the Athens opening ceremony on television and never in my wildest dreams could i have imagined that i would be a part of something this momentous.The roar that went up around the stadium when the Chinese team entered made me realise just how good it's going to be parading out in front of a home crowd when the Paralympics come to London in 2012.

The Ceremony itself was very well done i think. It was in no way patronising like i had initially feared and i honestly believe that it was 10 times better than the Olympic ceremony just a few weeks earlier. The displays of mass synchronised dancing, the lighting, the music....well everything was just so classy, and all of the main artists that performed were disabled..incredible.

I took so many photos that my camera bettery was totally flat by the end of the ceremony, so i didn't get to take many of the chinese athlete hoisting himself up to light the Paralympic flame. I'm sure there are plenty of photos of it about so i will try and grab some just in case you missed it. Oh and the part that will stick in my mind the most was the little children dancing, they were simply amazing and how they got that many kids to dance like that and all together is staggering.

Well the ceremony finished at around 11pm and we were efficiently ushered out to the hundreds of waiting buses to bring us back to the village. Everything ran like clockwork and me and one of my team mates stopped at the food hall for a drink and to try and get ourselves back down to earth as my mind was still racing. It really was one of the most memorable nights of my life.

I'll of course post some pictures as soon as i have had time to sift through the hundreds i took, hopefully one or two of them should be worth seeing :)

Now it's down to business and the real reason we are here. We have one more practice session before the ranking round on Tuesday (2:00pm), and that's when it really gets serious. Yesterday (Sunday) we had a 30 minute familiarisation session in each of the Archery courts, it was very exciting. I am not looking further forward than the ranking round, my plan was to take one step at time, lots of "mini" goals if you like that when all succesfully achieved will lead me to Archery court A on the 15th of September. My only goal right now is to finish in the top 8 in the ranking round, this will not only give me a bye in the first round and get me straight into the 1/16ths but it will also mean a day off on Wednesday so i can meet up with Lou and get some last minute words of encouragement. So thats it, if i succeed in that then i will start thinking about my next goal.

Here's a link to an Interview I did for BBC's Spotlight tv programme before I came out here,

Pain is only temporary, Pride is for Life.

2008-09-05T15:27:00.007Z

What an awesome slogan, I saw this on the t-shirt of one of the athletes here today and it just put everything in to perspective for me.

So here we are on the eve of the Opening Ceremony, one of the biggest events of my life. I don't know how i feel really and it's hard to put into words. There are so many emotions i'm feeling right now, Pride.. at actually being a part of this whole experience, Nervous... as i've obviously never strolled around a stadium filled with 91.000 people all cheering at us before. It's going to be one heck of an evening.

The great news is that unlike the Olympics the athletes will parade in before the ceremony starts so we will actually get to see the entertainment. We have no idea what it's going to involve but we do know it's not the same as the amazing show they put on for the able-bodied archers. I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures and if you are watching it live on TV just look for the guy in the white jacket looking like a startled rabbit and that'll be me :)

As for today, not a lot to report really, i shot a while this morning, it went well. I actually shot alongside my mate from the US Paralympic archery team , Kevin Stone (See piccies below) Thats what i love most about this sport at this level, you get to meet good people from all over the world and some of them you get to be good friends with, Kevin is just such a person. A big "thank you" hug to Lindsey Carmichael for taking the photos for us, and giving up her space on the shooting line so Kevin and I could shoot a few arrows together.

Anyhoo i really ought to get some rest, big day tomorrow and all that :)

It just gets cooler

2008-09-04T13:07:00.005Z

There were 2 landmarks reached today, the first one was Shooting at the Practice/Ranking field for the first time, its a very nice field with plenty of shade and it even has an Archers lounge. The archers lounge is a rather large air conditioned room where you can go to have a rest, cool down, get yourself a drink and a snack and basically just chill for a while.

The second landmark was actually stepping into the main Archery Stadium for the first time (known as "Court A"). I swear the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. It was just such a fantastic feeling walking out into the middle of that stadium, seeing the HUGE tv screen and just trying to imagine what its going to be like when it's filled with spectators. I also took walk inside Court B also, Not quite as impressive but nonetheless shiver inducing.

After taking a few photos of both Courts (see below) I went back to the practice field and carried on practicing. The rest of the gang left at 3 pm so it was just me shooting, Things weren't feeling as smooth as usual and i wanted to get it sorted out. Peter (Suk) also stayed behind to collect my arrows and figured out what i was doing wrong almost imediately. The result was a 58 end so not only was i back on track but actually shooting better. We spent about another 3/4 hour practicing head to head and pressure shooting so i left the field buzzing and full of confidence.

Anyhoo tomorrow is an early start as we start shooting at 8am so i'm going to try and hit the hay early, here's a few of the photos I took today,

Todays piccies

2008-09-03T15:48:00.008Z

Not a lot to report today, most of the gang went to the field to shoot a few arrows but i am sticking to my plan and not shooting the day after i travel, it's worked fantastically up till now so i'm not going to risk deviating from it.

Instead i just had a relaxing stroll around the village exploring and just generally taking it easy.

I'll be heading off to the shooting field tomorrow afternoon to fling a few arrows and get a feel for place...I can't wait.

Here is a small selection of the photos i took today, enjoy :)

Oh, one last thing, McDonalds was open today, big mac and fries, I didn't want it really but i felt i had to at least try them to see how they compare to the ones back home.. call it research if you like...ahem!! :D

UPDATE: Woah!! just been told of THIS which apparently appeared in yesterdays Daily mirror, Thats nice to know. (scroll down to the Archery section)

Finally arrived

2008-09-02T16:58:00.005Z

There was absolutely no mistaking where we were and why we were here from the moment we got off the plane in Beijing. We were mobbed by Chinese helpers showing us where to go, Mel and I were whisked off through customs etc by our very own personal helpers..absolutely incredible. Everywhere you looked there were paralympic posters, banners, officials...you name it.
The transfer to the athletes village was swift, efficient and trouble free which is pretty much what we have come to expect by now, the Chinese are just so well organised.

To sum up the athletes village in one word is really quite simple...AWESOME!!! It is beautiful, from the manicured lawns to the ornamental ponds, I'm sure i have been wheeling around here for the last few hours with my jaw around my knees :)

The first place we visited was the food hall, or should that be the food "stadium" I really have never seen something so immense, there is every conceivable type of food on offer. Of course being the ultimate proffessional you have all come to know I opted for a balanced meal of Pizza followed by a Magnum Ice-cream.Yum!! :)

Really, this is an experience that will stay etched in my brain for the rest of my life, seeing so many people all milling around with smiles and looks of shear happiness on their faces is not just refreshing but it certainly makes all those hours shooting in wet, cold fields in order to get here worth every nano-second

The ONLY downside is the internet connection isn't quite so convenient as before so todays pictures will follow as soon as i am able to upload them at a reasonable speed.

It's Started

2008-09-01T05:28:00.006Z

The media turned up at the field today, there were crews from both BBC and ITV. I got nabbed by both but despite everything it was quite enjoyable. Anyone who knows me will know i hate this sort of thing but we were warned to expect it and just deal with it.
Apparently they will be aired sometime this week on ITV West Country and the BBC in the South West, worth watching for a laugh if nothing else.

Todays shooting went well, i am averaging around 109-110 per dozen which is exactly where i want to be at this point in time. It was the last session in Macau as tomorrow morning we fly up to Beijing. That is where i get the feeling it's all going to become very real, i'm really excited and can't wait to get there now.

First day of shooting

2008-08-30T07:56:00.005Z

As per my training plan I didn't shoot yesterday to give my body time to get over the journey out here. I felt great this morning and was ready for shooting.

Practice went well but the heat and humidity is verging on the unbearable. I drank 3 litres of Sports drink in just over 2 hours. The shooting went great and I started off with a 110 for the first dozen. My first arrow shot in China this year went straight in the X, what a great start!! Confidence is certainly there.

Here are some more photos, including some of the archery venue in Macau where we practiced today.

Arrived safely

2008-08-28T23:51:00.005Z

After around 30 hours total travelling time, we arrived at our holding camp in Macau at around 6:30pm last night. The hotel is really nice and the weather this morning is very warm and sunny.

The Official T-Shirt

2008-08-24T18:00:00.000Z

As Promised

Amost there

2008-08-23T23:40:00.008Z

This morning was my last full training session before I jet off to Macau. I shot well and everything felt good. Both Fiberbows are set up perfectly and I have total confidence in both of them, so much so that for the first time since I've owned them I don't actually have a favourite!! Got to be a good thing.

Tomorrow the packing starts (sigh), that's the part I hate the most as it's always accompanied by that niggling feeling that I've forgotten something.

Anyhoo, As per usual I will be updating my Blog daily (or as much as possible), there will be photos galore and anything else I feel will be of interest. As I am now part of TeamGB, I'll be trying to keep up to date with all the other sports and letting you know of the successes they have also. I know Great Britain ranked 2nd in the medal table in Athens so let's hope we can repeat that. On top of all that I am also hoping to get to spectate at some of the other sports, Wheelchair Rugby (AKA Murderball) and the Fencing are two I would dearly love to see.

After following the Olympics on television for the last fortnight there are two things I am totally certain about, 1) This is going to be one of the most (if not THE most) proudest and amazing experiences of my life and 2) It's going to be one heck of an emotional two weeks. Oh there is one other thing I'm sure of, I will go out there and give it 110%. If I fail it will not be through lack of trying and If I succeed? well it'll mean that the highs and lows, the pain, the travelling, the sheer exhaustion and the support of all those close to me over the last few years hasn't been in vain.

A HUGE thank you to the people that sent me "Good Luck" cards, letters and messages, I am really touched that you care enough to do that and I shall try to make you proud. I will also try and get a photo uploaded of the Official supporters T-Shirts that Lou asked me to design. They arrived today and look fantastic if I may say so myself :)

Shooting Times Confirmed

2008-08-21T17:34:00.006Z

Here is the shooting schedule for the Men's Standing Recurve Category (the one I shoot in)

Ranking Round,
Tuesday, 9th Sept. 2:00pm. - 4:30pm.

1/16th Eliminations,
Weds, 10th Sept. Between 10:30am. - 11:00am.

1/8th Eliminations,
Thurs, 11th Sept. Between 10:00am. - 10:30am.

Quarter Finals,
Friday, 12th Sept. Between 10:30am. - 11:00am.

Semi - Finals,
Sunday 14th Sept. 10:15 am. OR 10:30am.

Bronze Medal Match,
Sunday 14th Sept. 2:00pm.

Gold Medal Match,
Sunday 14th Sept. 2:15pm.

Medal Ceremony,
Sunday 14th Sept. 3:30pm.

And Again

2008-08-19T21:21:00.005Z

Paralympics 6-17 September
Live coverage on BBCi
10.00am-4.00pm
There will be continuous live/as live coverage of the Games on BBCi throughout the day.

Paralympics 2008
7.00-8.00pm (Monday-Friday)
BBC Two/BBC HD
Clare Balding and Steve Cram present the best of the day's action at the Paralympics in Beijing. Viewers will get a round-up of all the news and action as we follow Team GB's Paralympians on their quest for glory.

Paralympics 2008
12.50-4.30pm (Saturday & Sunday)
(please note times may vary)
BBC One/BBC Two/BBC HD
Clare Balding and Steve Cram present live coverage from the Paralympics in Beijing.

More Coverage

2008-08-18T15:14:00.009Z

Please click on the picture to go to the Paralympic TV website where you will be able to watch live and recorded footage from The Beijing Paralympics once they start.

If you're unlucky enough, i may be on there :)

BBC Paralympics Coverage

2008-08-14T20:13:00.003Z

ParalympicsGB Team Beijing 2008
BBC Coverage of Paralympics

BBC television coverage of the Paralympics will be more extensive than ever before, action will be streamed live for six hours a day through the red button and via broadband.

There will be live terrestrial/red button coverage at the weekends and the opening and closing ceremonies will also be broadcast live including the handover to London moment on the final day.

Daily midweek programmes on BBC2 between 7pm and 8pm will be available on high definition (HD) and on iPlayer.

Clare Balding and Steve Cram will present the programmes from the Bird's Nest stadium.
There will be more live coverage than from Athens 12 different sports in all and there will be two BBC roving crews to record additional material.

Athletics, swimming, cycling, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby will comprise the backbone of the BBC's TV coverage throughout the Games, but will be supplemented by coverage of other sports, particularly those in which ParalympicsGB have strong medal hopes like equestrian and wheelchair tennis.

GB have two football sides competing and adaptive rowing is a new Paralympic sport.
Commentators and reporters include Paul Dickenson, Bob Ballard, Eddie Butler, Ronald McIntosh, Nick Mullins, Eddie Butler, Phil Jones, Rishi Persad and Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes.
They will be joined by Paralympians Tanni Grey-Thompson, along with Ade Adepitan and Marc Woods as guest commentators.

All the coverage will be streamed on the BBC's award-winning Disability Sport website, where there will also be a daily blog written from Beijing as well as reports and photos on all the main action, results and medal table bbc.co.uk/paralympics.

BBC Radio 5 Live will bring all the news throughout the Paralympic Games with a dedicated team of reporters in Beijing. There will also be live commentary from some key events featuring strong British interest.

Other programmes covering Paralympic stories include: News, Olympic Diaries, Blue Peter and Radio Five Live to name just a few.

Back

2008-04-15T09:52:00.006Z

Arrived home at around midnight last night, my head feels like it's filled with fluid..bleh i hate jetlag.

Looking back I would say the Korea trip was a great success for me. I shot well and as it was my first tournament of the year i really was unsure how it would go. The shooting felt good, the arrows were going (roughly) where i aimed them and i bagged myself my first medal of the year, well it was a trophy but you know what i mean. The qualification round went smoothly and i shot a 603 which i was quite happy with. The ground was VERY uneven which made it harder than usual to get good stability for shooting. I ranked 2nd in my class in the qualifying which gave me a bye in the first round of the elimination matches.

My first elimination match i won quite easily scoring 101 for the 12 arrow pass, i shot even better in the quater finals where i managed a respectable 103.

The semi finals weren't so good, i just couldn't get a stable footing and lost the match with a sorry 94. This put me in the Bronze medal match where i managed to shoot a 98, luckily this was enough to take the Bronze.

I made some good friends out there and am looking forward to catching up with them again in Beijing. The Trophy is probably one of the nicest ones i've seen, it's certainly the nicest i've ever won.

Although i was initially quite reluctant to go to Korea for this shoot, overall i think it was a really good experience. here are some more piccies.

Inspirational

2008-04-08T05:04:00.006Z

Before we came to Korea, some of us were wondering why on earth we were coming here for a training camp. I actually thought it would be more beneficial to go and shoot in the heat of the Arizona Cup, at least that would have been nearer the conditions we would be shooting in at the Paralympics.
Well, today we had a day off and had a walk around the Olympic village (constructed for the Seoul Olympics) and it just twigged! I get the feeling that it was to inspire us and i really think it has.
Seeing all the Olympic buildings and visiting the Olympic museum has really increased my determination to get to Beijing and be a part of it, it's just plain awe-inspiring!

Free time goings-on

2008-03-24T23:12:00.010Z

For those that know me well, know that my other passion besides archery is Computer gaming. Before my health got too bad i was a game developer in the USA, I worked on the Unreal Mission Pack, Star Trek- Deep Space 9, Rune, Rune Viking Warlord (PS2), Unreal Tournament 2003 and my last project was "Prey". Sadly due to the deterioration of my health and extremely long hours involved i had to give it up and thats basically why i took up Archery.

Why are you telling us this? i hear you yawn. Well in my spare time (which is surely going to deminish the closer we get to August) I play an online game called "Lord of the Rings Online" this is a game where you create a character and build it up by completing quests and killing monsters. It is also a great way to meet some fantastic new friends.

You do have to be careful though as it is very addictive and before you know it hours have passed in the blink of an eye. I have a few characters in the game and i am a member of a "Kinship" which is simply a group of like-minded people who get together and basically have fun and help each other get the most out of the game.

The Kinship i am in is called "The Hard Biscuits" and they are the nicest and most friendliest group of gamers you could wish too meet.

Lou, my wife also plays and when we play together i play a Minstrel (a healer) whos job it is to keep her character alive. So seeing as Lou is also my performance coach it's in my interest to make sure her character doesn't come to any harm :)

And my Characters, well like i said i have a few but my highest level character is level 50, the maximum level currently obtainable what is he? He's a badass with a bow of course :) If i could shoot as well as him, a Gold Medal in Beijing would be a shoe-in..

Meet Aelluin..the Hunter

Video Analysis

2008-03-18T13:56:00.008Z

As promised in one of my earlier posts, here is the video footage of me shooting at squad training camp back in February.

The red numbers you may be able to make out is where the arrow landed on the target eg. 9@5 means the arrow scored a Nine in the Five o'clock position on the target face. (the X is dead centre) The target distance was 70m.

We also found out that it wasn't really going to be zero degrees in Korea, more like somewhere between 7 and 15, so although it's not going to be that warm, it's a heck of a lot better than i thought. :) Only just over 2 weeks to go before we set off. There's going to be a good tournament while we are out there so we'll be able to shoot against the Koreans again and apparently the Japanese team will also be there..good fun!!

2008 World Rankings

2008-03-04T17:58:00.004Z

I have just received a copy of the 2008 IPC World Rankings. I have moved up just one place this year to 11th and have to admit i am a little dissapointed. My goal was to be in the top ten..ahh well!

One positive thing is that the guy ranked 3rd (Kimimasa Onodera. JPN) was the guy i beat in the 1/16ths in the World Championships in Korea last year.

Just goes to show that anything is possible in the Elimination matches and rankings don't really count for much when it's just you, your opponent and 12 arrows!

Piccies

2008-02-27T19:17:00.007Z

Here are some better pictures of my new grip and longrod.

New Kit = Woohoo!!

2008-02-22T16:07:00.005Z

As you can probably guess, my New S3 Long rods arrived earlier in the week, and I have to say they are every bit as good as i hoped they would be. The design of them is so unique and i'm pretty sure that i have the only ones in the UK at the moment. The shot feels so much nicer, there's quite a bit less shock after the shot and the bow is that much quieter (if thats possible) Well done Giuseppe you have done it again! another winner i'm sure.

Also my Jager Grips arrived, I know for sure these are the only ones in the world at the moments as they were made specially for me. I can now place my bow hand in the same place consistantly every single time, oh and as an added bonus they look as cool as anything. I will post some pictures of my "new-look" bow later on today.

Update

2008-02-19T11:22:00.026Z

I've just about got over last weekends training camp and it was a good one.

Saturday was quite interesting as i was videod by a guy from the EIS (English Institute of Sport) He had 2 cameras running simultaneously, one in front and one to the side. I've never actually been filmed this way before so it was good to see the same shot from different angles at the same time, very interesting. I am going to get a copy in the next few weeks so i will see if i can get it posted here for you to see.

We also did a bit of biometric balance work, this is where you stand on a pressure pad and it measures the difference in force applied on each foot, again this was interesting to see as you imagine you are stood totally still until you actually see the results on a computer screen..! I was suprisingly quite steady but as always there's room for improvement.

Sunday was the day i was dreading the most...Media Training!!! aargh. It wasn't quite as painful as i thought it would be and by the end of the session i was really quite relaxed about the whole thing. I learned some very interesting things and i'm sure it will be of great value the next time i'm being interviewed for TV, Radio or newspapers. oh and do i really speak like that !!! :)

The highlight of the weekend for me was the talk given by our 2 Athens Paralympic Gold medal winning team mates Kathy Smith and John Cavannagh on their experiences at "the Games". It really brought home to me just how massive an event Beijing is going to be. From the opening ceremony in a stadium filled with 91,000 people to the media frenzy that surrounds it, it really is just awe-inspiring. I've heard many times that competing in the Paralympics is the experience of a lifetime. one which you will never forget and after listening to the presentation and looking at their photos i'm inclined to agree. Here's a couple of pictures of the "Birds nest" Stadium in Beijing.

The weekend wrapped up with me being informed officially that i will be going to Korea again in April for 11 days. Apparently its about zero degrees there at that time of year so i'm not sure if it's going to be too much fun!

Happy New Year

2008-02-12T02:57:00.000Z

Apologies firstly for my lack of updates but the last few months have been fairly hectic. When i returned from Korea it was all go as my wife got a new job down in Beautiful Cornwall. The house was put up for sale and we moved down towards the end of November. We had to rent a place to live until our house sold and luckily enough we found somehere with an added bonus....my very own private shooting field!! It's fantastic, just 2 mins walk from the house and i can shoot as much as i like and at any distance i choose. The only downside is the 12 hour round-trip to Lilleshall everytime we have a squad training camp, it's a bit of a killer.

Training is going well and i am working hard on strength and conditioning this year as it was one of the areas i fell short in last year. There are a few specific parts of my form that aren't as good as they could be so i'm working on them but overall i think i'm heading in the right direction. The fitness training is really paying dividends and i am able to train for longer periods than before without my shot routine suffering through fatigue towards the end of a long training session.

This year is going to be manic with at least 1 training camp per month (sometimes 2) lots of tournaments and also possibly a return trip to Korea in April. I was really hoping to do the Arizona Cup again this year but looks like thats out. My wife (who is also my coach) and i have already decided that we will be going to Arizona next year and use it as a kind of shooting holiday as we both really enjoyed it last year.

On to kit. My wonderful sponsers "FiberBow" are sending me their new longrod, the "S3" to use, its an amazing looking piece of kit. I've heard nothing but good things about them so i'm quite looking forward to trying it out for myself. I have also had some custom grips made for my bows. They are also very good and i'm waiting for them to land on my doorstep, although as they are coming from the USA i have absolutely no idea how long it will take for them to get here..

Day 2 and Elimination Rounds

2007-10-08T09:34:00.000Z

The 2nd day started where the first left of, still in the same state and still shooting badly. So i recorded season lows for every distance and i'm not really sure why.

Elimination day arrived and i felt great, the butterflies were there and i was in a totally different frame of mind. My first match was against Reiner Schmidt of Germany which i won quite comfortably, 2nd up was Kimimasa Onodera of Japan as he was ranked 5th i thought i would have a tougher time of it than i did, It wasn't an easy match by any means but i pipped him by 1 point to go through to the 1/8ths.

Oh Joy!!! a Korean...Yun Young Bea was my next opponant, it would have been a nice scalp to have but i had a couple of flyers in the first end, I beat him in the second end but by then the damage had already been done. So thats where my run stopped, To be beaten by a Korean in Korea isn't something to be ashamed of and i am really quite pleased with my performance when it really mattered.

I'm not sure where i came overall yet but it should be 12th or 13th, and depending on who medals in the team rounds tommorrow i could still have won a place for GB in Beijing!!

Day 1 of competition

2007-10-05T06:21:00.001Z

Ok, after a 36 hour trip and 3 days of practice, the IPC World Championships kicked off for me this morning. Practice went very well and things were looking good but the only problem was i think i was too laid back, i mean i felt no nerves at all which is pretty unusual for me. I usually have a touch of the butterflies at the start of every round i shoot but this morning there were none, nada, zero, zipp!!!

Unfortunately it appears that these nerves are quite an important part of my shooting as my scores were borderline dismal. I shot the lowest 90m and the lowest 70m scores of the whole season and as a result finished today in 25th position. If i had scored the same as i have been all season long i would be sitting in 2nd or 3rd place this evening, so you can imagine how frustrated i'm feeling right now.

Anyhoo, tommorrow is another day as they say (whoever "they" are) and i have the 50m and 30m distances to shoot. 50m being my best distance so i'm hoping to repair some of the damage done today there. I really need to be in the top 15 by the end of tomorrow so i get a bye through to the 2nd round of the elimination matches.

Keep your fingers (and toes) crossed for me and i promise i will try to be nervous :)

Till tomorrow....

Getting Close now!

2007-09-21T11:10:00.000Z

Sorry for lack of updates but it's been "all-go" again recently. As mentioned in my previous post i shot at the british Target Championships half way throug August. The first day went fantastically well and i shot a new personal best of 1090 in the York Round, Sadly i didn't fare so well on the second day but it was still a good weekend overall.

The following weekend i was back down in Exmouth for the Premier Event. The first day consisted of a 720 qualifying round and then Head to Head elimination matches. The weather during the 720 was awful (up to force 7 winds were recorded) but i shot well and qualified in 1st place. I comfortably won my first head to head match but went out in the next round by just 1 point. Luckily it was to my team mate Noel so i didn't really mind too much.

The 2nd day at Exmouth was a full FITA round, but the weather was even worse than the day before so the shoot was cancelled at lunchtime.
I have been struggling on the second day of 2-day shoots recently and we put it down to me just plain shooting too much. With this in mind I pulled out of the next two tournaments and just rested.

Last weekend I shot for Gloucestershire in the GWAS Inter-County Tournament. I didn't record a particularly high score but it was enough to help Gloucestershire pretty much clean up.

This weekend will be spent fine tuning my bows and generally making sure i have all the bases covered for the World Championships. It's seemed so far away for such a long time and now it's just over a week before we fly out. I am really looking forward to visiting Korea and it's really going to be something special shooting there.

Like the Arizona Cup i will be updating my Blog very frequently while i'm out there, so you can keep track of what i'm up to and how the Championships are going, plus photos, facts and much more.

Official Webite of the IPC World Championships

Till next time !

Latest News plus Video

2007-08-08T07:46:00.000Z

2 weekends, 2 double FITA's, it's been pretty manic lately. The Andover Double FITA was first and it turned out to be quite a nice weekend. I think it was the first shoot this year where i didn't get rained on. The first day went well, i shot a 1207 but on the second day i had a nightmare at the 50m distance! I just couldn't hit the gold to save my life it was very odd, but when we got to 30m everything was good again?? I ended up on 1189 which is 1 point short of Master Bowman Classification. I would have been mortified if i hadn't already got it. I finished 10th overall but considering the competition there i am very happy with the result.

This past weekend was Redruth Double FITA. This is one of my favourite tournaments. I shot well on the Saturday again (1205) but had a bad 90m on the Sunday as i was a little stiff. I did however shoot a PB at 30m (despite the sudden downpour) and finished on 1195. The odd thing about this was for the last few weeks my goal has been to shoot a 2400+ for the double FITA and this weekend I actually hit it...exactly, how odd is that, 288 arrows and my score was 2400 on the nail!!! I ended up winning the 1st day, winning the 2nd day and winning the Double too! 3 gold medals and 2 trophies, quite a haul for a weekends work.

This coming weekend I'm at the British Target Championships up at Lilleshall, It's a 2-day Double York (not my favourite round but it's all good practice)

Last night I did some video work on my form, i've managed to compress some of it enough to put here. Be mindful of the fact that my form may be different as i've had to adapt slightly due to my disability. Enjoy and don't laugh too much :)

Till next time.

European Grand Prix

2007-07-24T12:28:00.000Z

The tournament was supposed to be a Double 720 ranking round and the Head to head matches, unfortunately the heavens opened on Friday and we had to stop after shooting just 4 dozen of the 1st 720.

By the afternoon the field was under 4 inches of water so shooting was scrapped totally that day.Saturday we managed to shoot the remaining 2 dozen arrows from the first round and that was it. So it was decided that the head-to-head part of the tournament would be replaced by the 2nd 720 round so at least people could get scores for World rankings etc.

I shot as well as i could have hoped for considering the conditions and went from being 9 points behind the 3rd placed archer in the first round to winning the Bronze medal by 4 points so i was very happy. The Chinese visitors took Gold and Silver and it was very interesting and useful to actually see them shoot and to see the level that they are currently at as they were pretty much an unknown entity before the event.

Anyhoo enough rambling..in a nutshell i beat all the European Archers which is what i set out to do and came home with the bronze so it was a successful trip, oh and while i was there i was officially informed that i will be shooting for GB at the IPC World Championships in Korea (Sept 30th - Oct 11th)

At last !!

2007-07-10T07:24:00.000Z

This weekend I shot a double FITA at the NCAS tournament in Bradford, the weather stayed relatively ok thankfully as i was expecting to get drenched again. Saturday was a bad shoot, one of those where nothing seems to go right. I decided to stop shooting before i got myself into a really negative state of mind.

It seemed to do the trick as on Sunday i came out guns blazing, i shot my highest ever end at 90m (56) and my highest ever 70m distance (312). I finished on a score of 1219 which was also a FITA P.B. for me, it was also my 3rd MB score of the season so now i am officially a Master Bowman !!

I have another FITA shoot this weekend and then the following Wednesday i'm of to sunny Stoke Mandeville to shoot in the European Grand Prix. This is a great 5 day tournament where National Teams from all over Europe shoot a double 720 over 2 days to get rankings for the elimination rounds.

This year is going to be very special as the Chinese Paralympic Team are attending, it's going to be a good tester for the World Championships later in the year. I did quite well at this event last year getting double Bronze medals and my shooting has improved quite a bit since then so i'm hoping to do a little better this time around.

Fingers crossed!!

Latest News

2007-07-03T11:28:00.000Z

Sorry for my lack of updates recently but times just flown, you know how it is. I didn't shoot at Oxford in the end as i felt my dizzy spells deemed it too dangererous to actually shoot near other people. It took around 5 weeks for my head to settle down but i'm all good now.. thankfully.

My shooting has been going rather well, i've shot several PB's lately and i've got 2 of the 3 scores needed for my Master Bowman classification.

Last weekend was the GWAS Regional Outdoor Championships, this is a fantastic event held in the grounds of Dunster Castle and probably one of the nicest venues i've shot at. The last two years have been scorching hot but unfortunately this year was cold, Windy and non-stop rain..ugh!

Anyway I shot reasonably well on the 1st day (The round is a Double York spread over 2 days) and was sitting in 2nd position, 5 points behind the leader and 1 point ahead of the 3rd placed guy. I arrived at the field on Sunday in the pouring rain and it pretty much remained that way off and on for the rest of the day. I shot better somehow than the saturday and to my suprise everyone else seemed to be 20-30 points down on the previous days scores so yes that means i won it and became this years Regional Outdoor Champion!

The trophy is very nice but sadly we aren't allowed to keep them as they are quite valuable and kept on permanent display in Dunster Castle.

We won't mention the fact that when i was presented with the trophy i kinda ..err.. dropped it, there were gasps of horror as the base bounced off the table and onto the floor. I don't think my comment of " lucky it wasn't a new one!" went down too well with the officials though..Ahh well :)

Ouch!

2007-05-11T04:55:00.000Z

After getting back from Arizona i was shooting rather well still, I shot in the Long Mynd Archers double 720 and although still feeling a little "odd from jet lag still managed to equal my PB for a FITA 720 round.

Unfortunately the next day while i was practicing in my garage i lost my balance and went tumbling backwards. Luckily my head broke my fall :) Apparently i was unconcious for around 20 mins and came around in the ambulance to the sound of sirens and the feeling of travelling at very high speed.

I had a seriously nasty gash on the back of my head and they had to use 6 staples to patch it up (if you are ever given the option between staples and anything else...choose anything else!!) I had to have 3 units of blood in trasfusions and have the headache from hell. That was over 2 weeks ago and i'm still getting quite worrying and scary dizzy spells so sadly i'm not holding out much hope for the Oxford Premier Event this weekend, i'll shoot but i don't know how the heck i'm going to get through the weekend. I'll keep you posted.

More Piccies.

2007-04-18T22:57:00.000Z

A few more photos from Arizona including another super cool "Arrow in flight" one.

It's all over.

2007-04-15T11:41:00.000Z

I was right when i thought i would be shooting against George Tekmitchov in the 1/32nd elimination round. We had our practice then went straight into the shoot-offs. I shot fairly well and was 5 points up after 6 arrows, i increased my lead by a further 9 points with the 2nd 6 arrows and ended up beating him by 14 points (103 - 89) BTW this is the guy that actually designed the X10 arrows i was shooting :)

In the 1/16th round i was drawn against the number 4 seed and had a reasonable shoot but could not match the arrows Crispin was shooting and finished with 97 points to his 108.

My performance in the head to heads moved me up 11 places in the final rankings and i finished in 25th place overall tied with 3 other archers so i am absolutely delighted with my performance in this tournament. 25th out of 98 recurve archers is a very respectable score for a Paralympic Archer in an Able bodied World Ranking event.

Today is the final day and the team rounds, unfortunately i am the only recurve archer here with the squad so no shooting for me, so i will just be spectating. I have had an awesome time here, i've met some fantastic people and my confidence in my shooting had grown immensely. I am really looking forward to this outdoor season now and what a way to start it, every other shoot is going to be a bit of an anti-climax now though :)

Finally here are some pics of some of the stars i had the good fortune to meet while i was here,
From the left they are; Rick Mckinney, Richard "Butch"Johnson and Ed Eliason.

End of qualification

2007-04-13T23:57:00.000Z

We got to the field bright and early this morning and the wind was howling, not a good sign. Practice got underway and I managed to get my arrows on the target though 90m still looks an awful long way. The Tournament got underway At 9am sharp and I felt I shot reasonably well. By the time we got to the 70m distance the wind was gusting up to 45mph and I had trouble staying upright, but I managed to survive the distance and scored fairly well.... all things considering.

So at the end of the first day I finished in 37th place which I am more than happy with taking into account that I am competing against the worlds best “able-bodied” Archers.
A year ago I would have laughed if you had told me I would be shooting against the likes of Rick McKinney and there I was 15 points ahead of him at the halfway point!!!

Today the weather was a lot kinder to us and I managed to score a personal best for the 50m distance. My 30m was nothing stellar but I shot to about my average so I am fairly pleased with my overall performance today.

The final results haven’t been published yet so my fingers and toes are crossed that I will make it in the top 64 cut so I can shoot in the elimination matches tomorrow, because we all know that anything can happen in the shoot offs.

I’ll post results as soon as I get them. Meanwhile here is a picture of me and KiSik Lee regarded as the greatest coach ever, what a honour it was to meet the guy.

**Update** Results just in, I finished in 36th place overall so i will be shooting in the elimination matches tomorrow. Looks like I should be shooting against George Tekmitchov (He's one of the head honchos at Hoyt and did the Archery commentating at the Athens Olympics)

Looks like i beat Rick McKinney too :)

You expect me to hit THAT..from HERE !! ??

2007-04-10T06:00:00.000Z

Up bright and early this morning and off to the range to get our first taste of shooting in the desert. Practice went fairly well but I was still in that “OMFG… 90 metres looks miles away!!!” mode at the start. I soon settled down and started hitting the centre..ish J

It did get very hot around lunchtime and the wind was doing curious things but it made it more challenging to say the least.

Finally, check out the amazing picture below. Grieg (one of our coaches) managed to get this photo just as I released, you can see the arrow just leaving the string. Photos like this are incredibly hard to get and seeing as the arrow leaves my bow at over 190 feet per second you can understand why.

Day off tomorrow so I’m going sunglass shopping! Then I’ll be ready for another full days practice on Wednesday. The Tournament starts on Thursday so check back regularly for updates.

Oh and apart from the shooting and the suicide (True) in the hotel everything is going smoothly

Till later……

Phew...it's warm here!

2007-04-08T22:34:00.000Z

We arrived safely last night at around 9pm local time. The trip was uneventful but very long (I’d been up for around 24 hours by the time I eventually got to bed)

The Hotel is very nice, the weather is beautiful, it’s very sunny with very little wind just about perfect conditions for shooting. I can’t wait till we get up the field tomorrow to start some practicing.

Thankfully we have a fairly good internet connection in the hotel so I will get some photos uploaded as well tomorrow so you can see what the venue is like. We will be travelling over to the Ben Avery shooting facility this afternoon just to check it out and get a feel for the place.

Till tomorrow……

And so it begins.........

2007-04-02T21:53:00.000Z

I'm getting a little excited i have to admit. In just 5 days time i'm flying out to Arizona USA with the rest of the team to shoot in the 2007 Arizona Cup.

I'm going to be shooting alongside some seriously good Archers.... legendary even, Rick Mckinney, Vic Wunderle, Ed Eliason and Butch Johnson to name but a few. I'm going to do my very best to update this blog while i'm out there so keep checking back as i'll try to post as much news and as many pics as i can.

It's going to be my first major Tournament this year so i'm looking to do well, my bow is tuned beautifully, i have 2 sets of shiny new arrows, all fletched to perfection so i'm as ready and prepared as i'm going to be.

I have to get a good world ranking this year to ensure my place in Beijing next year, so every tournament is majorly important from now until the World Championships in Korea (October)

Wish me luck!!

w00t!!

2007-03-12T11:10:00.000Z

I had some great news this morning, I've moved up 8 places in the IPC Archery World Rankings This now puts me in 12th position! I've got it all to do as I really want to be in the top 5 at least for next year, i'd better get shooting some more :)

Yesterday was my first proper outdoor 70 m shooting session of the year, it was blowing a gale but heck it was awesome fun. I've moved up to pulling 44lb now with the new Inno limbs and the extra poundage certainly makes a difference in the wind. I just need sightmarks for 90m and 50m then i'm all set for the dozens of FITA's i'll be shooting this year.

End of Indoor season for Mick

2007-03-05T08:48:00.000Z

Well thank god thats over. Anyone who knows me will know how much i hate shooting indoors. Yesterday was my last Indoor Tournament of the season, It was the Staffordshire County and Open at Lilleshall and I'm happy to report that i won the Visitors Trophy (Actually i had the highest score out of all the recurves and even beat the score of the guy who came 3rd in the compound division :)

This means that out of the 4 indoor Tournaments i've shot this season (all County Championships) I 've had 3 wins and a 2nd place so i'm happy and optimistic for the coming year.

My new Inno Limbs arrived on Saturday so like a typical archer i decided it would be a good idea to shoot them untested at the tournament yesterday, I'm so glad i did, they are by far the best limbs i've ever shot, they feel so smooth yet so bloody powerful, they just feel.....right, if you know what i mean.

All Change!

2007-02-26T07:43:00.000Z

It's been quite a hectic time since my last post. I've had a couple of Indoor Tournaments which went quite well. The first was the County Championships in late January. I always seem to come 2nd in County shoots (Indoors and out) but i broke that record this year and actually won it.

Then in early February we had the GWAS Regional indoor shoot. I went in with no expectations as i had decided to shoot the FiberBow in a Tournament for the first time. I felt very comfortable shooting and finished in 2nd place so i was very pleased.

The FiberBow is absolutely awesome. It is so quiet and smooth to shoot but you can feel the power in the shot. I've had to get new arrows (a whole spine size stiffer!) but i think it will be worth it in the end.

Today i am taking the day off from shooting as i have just come back from the February Training Camp. It went well, a lot of shooting and a lot of laughs with the squad. We did a bit of biometric testing this time, it seems i'm not very equally balanced when i shoot but i'm putting this down to my leg brace etc. But at least now i am aware of it and its something to look out for.

Thats it for training camps now until next winter, the next time i see my team mates will be at Heathrow Airport in April when we fly out to Arizona. I am really looking forward to it and a bit of sun will do my bones the world of good :) When we come back its full speed into the outdoor season, I think i have only 2 weekends free from tournaments until we go to Korea for the World Championships in October. This summer is going to fly by i just know it.

Till next time, take care and good shooting!

Training Camps and stuff

2007-01-12T17:06:00.000Z

I've had 2 squad training camps since my last update, both were excellent for different reasons. The December T/C was very interesting as Peter Suk loaned me a Fiberbow to evaluate. It's an amazing riser and the weight (or lack of it) felt wonderful.

After bringing it home and evaluating it for a month i came to the conclusion that while i would dearly love to have one it is just not financially viable for me. For a start i would have to buy 2 of them and at just under £500 each thats way over my budget, plus the arrows came out very weak so i would have to invest in a couple of sets of X10's as well..eeek so i'll be sticking with my Helix's until i win the lottery.

This last training camp was awesome as well as i have now cranked my bow up to 42.5lbs and it feels great. Both bows are now set up identically and are shooting very nicely. My shooting was very consistant and i came away full of confidence.

Also found out that we will be shooting in the Arizona Cup this year which i'm very excited about, i used to live in the States when i was full time game developing so it will be great to go back especially as some of my old workmates said they would come down to watch and catch up on old times. YAY!!

Training Update

2006-12-07T09:09:00.000Z

I've just received a great letter from the Station Commander giving me permission to use the faciltities at RAF Innsworth again this year. I thought it might be a problem as with my coach's work schedule it meant we would only be able to train in the evenings but I've been given use of the gym from 9pm onwards for 4 nights a week and pretty much every weekday morning..yay!!

I have yet to shoot a FITA 18 this indoor season and have only been shooting Portsmouths, My best so far is 579 and i won the Visitors Gold medal at the Gwent County Open Indoors with a score of 572. I WILL hit the magical 580 before the end of the season!!

I have also changed my limbs recently so i am still in the transition stage of getting used to them. I've moved from 36lb medium G3's to 40lb Long ones. I can handle the weight comfortably and the extra length seems to make the draw so much smoother. The kicker is having to make new strings for both bows, i've made 4 so far so just another couple to do and i'll be good to go. I've made 2-colour strings this time (I use 8125) They are more fiddly to make than single colour but i think the result is worth the extra time/effort.

I'm heading off up to Lilleshall tommorrow for the first Paralympic Squad training camp of the winter. I'm really looking forward to is as it seems like years ago since i last saw my team mates. It's going to be a tough weekend (It always is) but thoroughly enjoyable.

Here's some Pics from a couple of this years trips.

Bronze medal match, European G.P. July 06

Czech Republic, August 06

Guanzhou, China. September 06

Welcome

2006-11-15T15:39:00.000Z

Welcome to my new Blog. This will be an Archery only blog and i intend to keep it up to date with all the news of my training and preparations in the build up to the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.

First a little rundown on my Archery career to date. I shot my first arrow in August 2004 and was hooked immediately so 1 week later i bought my first bow off Ebay. It was a nice Hoyt Avalon Plus and once i had limbs that suited me and the correct spine arrows my shooting really took off. I entered my first outdoor Tournament in May 2005 (York Round) and was pleasantly suprised when i won it.

My first ever Gents FITA was The Wiltshire FITA Star in June 2005 where i was placed 3rd with a score of 1122. I shot Tournaments practically every weekend during the Summer and in the July i went to Stoke Mandeville to get my IPC (International Paralympic Comittee) Classification. I am ARST (which stands for "Archer Standing" as opposed to being in a wheelchair).

At the Norfolk Premier Event in August 2005 i was approached by David Hilton the (then) Team manager of the GB Paralympic Squad and told i had made the team and was to shoot at the IPC European Championships in the Czech Republic Aug 2006. He also told me i had won a place on UK Sports "Fast Track" Scheme which is a training scheme to prepare me for the 2008 Paralympics in Beiijing.

I shot my first arrows for GB in July 2006 at the European Grand Prix at Stoke Mandeville (UK) where i won Bronze in the Qualifying rounds and Bronze in the elimination rounds.

The European Champs didn't go to plan as 2 days after shooting a PB 1204 FITA and 14 days before the Tournament, i was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with Crohns Disease. The treatment for this is a course of Steroids which totally screwed me up. I came 10th in the qualifying stage with a FITA score of 1176 and was knocked out in the first round of the eliminations so ended up 21st overall...very dissapointing for me.

So as you can see it's been a manic couple of years but i am feeling good and exceptionally confident and excited about the future.......Bring it on!!!