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.
Tuesday 18 November 2008
Thursday 9 October 2008
All good things............
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 :)
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 :)
Monday 22 September 2008
Hi Speed Video
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.
Sunday 14 September 2008
Consolation.
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
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
Thursday 11 September 2008
I'm so sorry!
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!!
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!!
Wednesday 10 September 2008
Pinch me!!
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!!!
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!!!
Tuesday 9 September 2008
Don't worry
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 :)
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 :)
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