Poland

June 2005

1st in the Individual Qualifification Round 02/06/05

1st in the Individual Elimination Round 04/06/05

European Grand Prix May/June2005 – Sopot, Poland

On arriving to Poland for the first time I was amazed how old it seemed, and how it managed to survive the wars! The flights were long as we had to get a connecting flight via Copenhagen, so didn’t arrive to Poland until quite late. In total we travelled for over 8 hours which I thought was excessive considering how far Poland is from GB. The hotel we stayed in was built in 1927 and is a fascinating place; I bet it could tell some stories!!! The food however is not so good.

After a day of settling in we went to the shooting field for a practice session. Unfortunately the targets had no faces on, so it was shooting blank boss all day. This was ok, as it gave a chance to work on shooting form.

The next day the heavens opened and it rained all day. This was a bit of a problem because we could not risk shooting in the cold and wet all day, so the team management decided for us not to shoot and to exercise instead.

The first qualification day was shooting 90m and 70m. The weather was cold and breezy but I was happy with shooting 301. The wind picked up for 70m and I shot 318, again I was happy with this shooting and a 619 long metric considering the conditions.

The Second qualification day was shooting 50m and 30m. The weather at 50m was good and I shot it well with a new pb of 337. This meant I jumped into 1st spot. I was very happy with this shooting, especially the 116 in the middle. The wind picked up at 30m and got quite gusty. I was still shooting well and got 350, which again I was happy with. I finished the qualification round ranked in 1st place. This was also a personal achievement.

The eliminations day was going to be a long one. We had the individual matches right up the finals and then in the afternoon the team rounds up to the finals. The weather was getting worse, and raining very hard, cloudy and dark and very cold. The start of the eliminations the rain stopped and I scored 171, which I was very happy with. The second round was very much the same and I scored 170. I was very pleased with the consistency of my shooting. The third round I shot 168. The quarter final I shot 114 and the semi-final I shot 107. I had made it to the finals for the next day. At this point I was quite exhausted but knew I had to dig deep to shoot in the team rounds.

The first team match was against Estonia, but they had did not turn up and forfeited the match. We had to shoot the match anyway and I was very pleased with shooting 10,9,10,10,10,10,10,10,10 (89) for my pass in the team match. The next match we were against Russia, and again the team performed well and we won by 9 points. The semi-final was against the Italians and they beat us 250 to 240. We have learnt a lot and plenty to work on for the future and for the bronze medal matches the following day.

The finals day. I was feeling very comfortable on this morning, and looking forward to my individual finals match and the team bronze match. My body’s condition was good. After practice in the morning I came back to the hotel to do some maintenance on my equipment. I changed my grip tape and re-fletched arrows. My match against Michele Frangelli went very well. The wind was different from the practice targets to the competition targets, even though they were only a few meters apart. I started well shooting 8,10,10 and took an early lead. On the next end a dog decided to walk across the match field. This I found funny and it did not affect my shooting or metal control at all. Michele shot a 6 and my next shot after that was a 6. It was a poor shot, but again I smiled and thought nothing of it. So my 2nd end was only 24. I concentrated even more on the next 2 ends and got 29, 29. This I was very happy with, and that it was my first major international win.

The team round also went well and we all shot good, beating the Ukraine by 10 points. I felt I shot ok in the team round. I am very pleased for the gents’ team, we did ourselves proud.

Archery gold for on-song Godfrey BBC 5 June 2005

Larry Godfrey gave Britain's archers a huge boost ahead of the Madrid World Championships by winning gold at the second European Grand Prix of 2005.

Athens Olympic semi-finalist Godfrey kept his nerve to beat former world champion Michael Frangeli 110-106 to take top men's individual honours.

Godfrey also helped GB to bronze in the men's team event in Sopot, Poland.

Godfrey, Roy Nash, Michael Peart and Andrew Calloway, overcame Ukraine by 249-239 in the third place play-off.

But Ukraine gained their revenge when they defeated the GB women's team in their third place play-off match.

Olympic bronze medallist Alison Williamson, Lana Needham, Naomi Folkard and Charlotte Burgess were narrowly beaten by just one point, 240-239.

Golden Godfrey in top form ahead of Madrid Championships

5th June 2005

By Peter Jones PRO

Britain has won a gold medal and a bronze at the second archery European Grand Prix of the year, in Sopot, Poland. It is a big boost for the British squad, just two weeks before they head off to the world championships in Madrid.

Bristol's Larry Godfrey maintained his superb run of from in the build up to Madrid by taking the gold medal in the men's individual event.

Godfrey, who reached the Olympic semi-final in Athens last year, kept his nerve to beat former world champion Michael Frangeli by 110 points to 106 in a highly pressurised match.

"It was another fantastic performance by Larry in a very strong competition, with everyone using this tournament to fine tune themselves ahead of the Worlds," said Team GB performance director Barry Eley.

"He displayed great composure under pressure, shot brilliantly, and on this evidence he really will be a serious contender for gold in Madrid."

Godfrey was also a member of the four man British team that took the bronze medal in the men's team event. Godfrey, Roy Nash, Michael Peart and Andrew Calloway, were convincing winners over Ukraine by 249-239 in the third place play-off.

But Ukraine gained their revenge when they defeated the GB women's team in their third place play-off match. The GB team of Olympic bronze medalist Alison Williamson, Lana Needham, Naomi Folkard and Charlotte Burgess were narrowly beaten by just one point: 240-239.

"It's the first time both the men's and the women's team have reached the bronze medal play-off matches at a European Grand Prix," said Eley.

"There were some fantastic performances throughout the squad and it's very encouraging, everybody is very upbeat."

Hi guys this is a group message. 02/06/05

Well poland is currently very very windy and very wet, so now change there
then!!!!!

Shooting is going ok, bit of a calm before the storm that i will be
unleashing in Madrid!!!!!!! There is a lot more people here this Grand Prix
as its the warm up for the worlds, so competition is higher!! cool!!! I'm
shooting ok, not anywhere near my best but ok, and am currently in 7th. We
finish the qualification today, so i'm hopeing to improve a couple of
places, ready for the elimination.

The hotel is very old try 1927 and it still looks like it, hee hee the food
is poo as well, so we've been eating out most days.

The internet is very limited over here so i can only get on now and again.
Hope everything is going ok back at home.

hope to speak to you guys again soon

take care

Larry

Larry Shooting for Gold Sopot - Poland

Larry Shooting for Gold Sopot - Poland