Jersey medallist comes 33rd in World Archery Championships

Wednesday 19 August 2015

A female archery champion who took gold and silver medals at the island games has ranked 33rd in the World Archery Championship.

Compound archer Lucy O'Sullivan got one of the highest scores in the first round, but was knocked out by a fellow GB team member at the World Archery Championships in Copenhagen last week.

One of the top three female archers in Great Britain, Lucy won gold and silver medals for her events at the Island Games this summer, as well as helping the Jersey team take silver.

She said: “I was ranking 50th in the qualifying round and came up against a Finnish girl who was 64th. I beat her and got one of the highest scores on the field. In the second round I came up against Naomi Jones, a fellow GB archer. This was great for the team, as it meant we knew we had at least one person going through to the next round, but it was bad for us personally because one of us was going to be knocked out.

“We shot 15 arrows, and for the first two sets I beat her, we drew in the third, then she beat me in the fourth and fifth sets. Despite getting knocked out, I’m happy that I shot consistently because I know that with more practice I could improve.”

At the moment Lucy is practising one day a week. In comparison, top archers in places like Korea, the team GB came up against at the Championships, will train four times a week, for up to five hours a day.

She said: “I would probably be doing better if I'd been born in Korea. A lot of support goes towards football in Britain, while Korea focuses on archery; it makes a big difference.

“The Koreans are so good because it's their national sport. Out of the 20 or so female athletes who might make the GB squad, the Koreans have 300.”

Lucy began archery in 2001 at the age of 10 and has been an International GB archer for Compound bow since 2004. At the age of 15 Lucy was number three in the world. 

Since completing a degree in Sports Science at Nottingham Trent University, Lucy has qualified as a corrective exercise specialist. She works as a sports conditioning coach at the Jersey Sports Foundation and the Rugby Club, and as a personal trainer with Rad Fitness at the Radisson Hotel. 

She said: “I’m really noticing a big difference between the younger people who don’t work, and whose parents can support them for competitions, and older athletes who have to work too. The people getting the best results now are in their very early 20s.  Britain has some really good juniors so it will be interesting to see how they come along.”