TO say that Alison Williamson is an Olympic veteran is an understatement. The 37-year-old Athens archery bronze medallist is contesting her fifth Olympics, but her first experience as a winning Olympian was when she was about 10.
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The Courier: Olympic archer ‘well satisfied’ at Beijing form
The GB ladies’ team, which includes Athens bronze medalist Alison Willamson and Charlotte Burgess are much fancied for a medal.
They have been so successful on the international circuit that they are now ranked 2nd in the world behind Korea.
However they face a strong challenge from the host nation China, Italy and Poland.
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IOC lifts Iraq’s Olympic suspension
A compromise was worked out after mediators from Germany and China became involved in talks, and Iraq pledged to hold free elections for its national Olympic committee under international observation.
Iraq is expected to send two athletes to Beijing to compete in track and field events. The decision came too late for five other hopefuls in archery, judo, rowing and weightlifting. The deadline to submit names for those sports expired last week.
How disheartening is this? A resolution is reached, but too late for the majority of the athletes. The archer may fare better than the other olympic hopefuls as the skill of an archer is not so tied to age as it is for judo, rowing and weightlifting. Sad all around.
I still don’t understand the nature of the ban. I’m not sure I can identify who the players are, who the good guys and who the bad guys are. Perhaps they’re all bad. Take a look at this sentence however:
The IOC had insisted the old committee be reinstated even though four members were kidnapped two years ago. Their fates remain unknown.
“Their fates remain unknown.” ?!?!?!?! This makes the IOC look like inconsiderate, bumbling jerks!
Who knows. I need someone to explain this whole thing to me.
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Scotland on Sunday: Another string to his bow
He was amazed at how quickly he got back into the swing of things. Despite having equipment almost as ancient as that he used in his Crieff days, when his publican dad hooked him up with his pal Les Bryce who drank in the Terrys’ Oakbank Inn pub and owned a little archery shop in the town, Terry was surprisingly competitive.
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Pantagraph.com: After 19 years, Mason City archer Wunderle still going strong
“I’m shooting very well,” reports the 32-year-old fulltime professional archer. “Some of my tournament results weren’t as high early in the year. I was working on different things and trying to become better prepared for the Olympics.”
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Silicon Alley Insider is reporting that NBC U Olympics will be live streaming many sports over the Internet, including archery. Other sports, especially tape delayed sports, will not be broadcast over the Intertubes.
From the document posted on their web site here is the coverage breakdown as I can glean from the document. All archery coverage will be on NBCOlympics.com.
- Fri, Aug 8th – Women’s Archery
- Sat, Aug 9th – Men’s Archery
- Sun, Aug 10th – Women’s Archery – Team Semifinal & Gold Medal Final
- Sun, Aug 10th – Men’s Archery – Team Competition
- Mon, Aug 11th – Men’s Archery – Team Semifinal & Gold Medal Final
- Tue, Aug 12th – Men’s and Women’s Archery – Individual Competition
- Wed, Aug 13th – Men’s and Women’s Archery
- Thu, Aug 14th – Women’s Archery – Individual Competition, Semifinals & Final
- Thu, Aug 14th – Men’s Archery – Individual Competition
- Fri, Aug 15th – Men’s Archery – Individual Competition, Semifinals & Gold Medal Final
Check here for more details and times when they become available. Event times are subject to change at any time.
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Olympic archer Jennifer Nichols is chronicling her journey to the Olympics in Beijing, China. Check out her blog: One Arrow At A Time.
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Here’s a great little story about a quiet man, who just happens to be one of the country’s best archers.
Courant.com: Woodstock’s Johnson Shoots Way To Fifth Olympics
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