I really, really enjoyed this trip and once again it was an incredible experience. The trip went very well in general. A fantastic all inclusive hotel was a great place to relax and focus your mind for the competition ahead and also when it all got too much there was a nice pool which we were allowed in for an hour a day or a free games room which included the regularly used pool and ping-pong tables. I feel that from the moment we left Gatwick there was a very positive and friendly attitude among the whole team.

First day was official practise. This is where we got our accreditations which let us onto the field. You are told your official targets for the competition and are allowed to practise on the main field. This is your last chance to check sight marks and spare bows. The next day is the first day of qualifying you shoot the two longest distances of your round, mine being a Ladies FITA (Metric 1). Cadets were up to shoot in the morning and the Juniors followed in the afternoon. I thought 70m went really well scoring quite well and I was in around 8th place. 60m came and I started to expect to shoot well rather than to sit back and shoot how I know I can so I started badly but gradually picked up as the distance came to an end. After a little bit of a disappointing long metric I sat down on the afternoon on my own for a bit and focused on what was ahead of me which I think sorted my head out ready for the next day.

The next day is the short metric of the qualifying round. Again cadets were shooting in the morning so nice early start. I feel I shot a couple of good ends at 50m and in general struggled to score highly but this didn’t affect my shooting as I just focused on shooting good shots. 30m was a struggle as it started to get dark and I think I was letting the peep sight drift out of line at full draw.

After Qualifying 20th I came into the head to head rounds the next day with a bye.

I felt confident in the individuals after shooting a 116 in practise then won my first match with a 115 against the Indian. I came up against the Russian with confidence and after being 1 point behind with a 57, I thought it was still possible. I felt the next 6 shots were great but unfortunately they all grouped high left. Meaning I was knocked out 113 to 117 I was happy with how I shot but was also very disappointed after all that work to go out in the second round.

I was convinced the next morning that we were going to do well in the team round. It was going well in practise and we came into our first match against the Russians so I was really ready to prove myself again and overcome my nerves. The shots felt good and I scored ok but it went to a 1 arrow shoot off. In this case each of the 3 archers shoots one arrow each and the highest scoring total of three wins. Our team won the head to head, shooting a 29 end against there 27 end. On my arrow I was nervous as I drew up but as I sat at full draw my mind started to focus more as I thought about the importance of the shot and the aim stopped dead still and the shot went off.

Bronze medal match was a great experience, knowing that all your family and friends are watching you. I had no nerves during the match and after shooting a 20 to start I felt confident but as I continued to shoot good shots I started to struggle to score well but I feel my mind was strong and kept it together so I am happy. It was a fantastic moment shooting in front of a crowd knowing everyone’s eyes are watching you. When we won all three of us were just ecstatic and once again it was incredible being on the podium collecting the medal and the trophy!

Jake