Name: Naomi Folkard
Age: 28
From: Leamington Spa
Event: Archery
History: Naomi took part in Athens in 2004, where she was the youngest member of the GB archery team. The archer got through to the last 16 before losing to eventual gold medalist, Park Sung Hyun, finishing 11th overall. She was also a part of the archery team that finished 12th. The Archer also travelled to Beijing in 2008, where she progressed to the third round, but was eliminated by Japenese Archer, Nami Hayakawa. Along with Alison Williamson and Charlotte Burgess, Naomi made it through to the semi finals against China but were unfortunately defeated and they then couldn’t beat the French so finished fourth and just missed out on the medals.
Qualification for 2012: Has qualified and will be a part of Team GB.
Copyright Getty Images
After a bit of a quiet period in regards to Athletes, the blog is active once more and this time with Great Britain’s leading female archer.
Naomi Folkard is preparing for her third appearance at the Olympic Games and is aiming to for it to be third-time lucky in her pursuit of a medal after just falling short in 2004 and 2008.
Amazingly, Naomi wasn’t so keen on the first time she played archery. Thankfully, her dad loved the sport and enrolled at the local club in Leamington Spa. She went along simply to spend time with him, but soon discovered her ability and by the age of 12, Naomi found herself in the British Junior Archery team.
The sport runs in the family as Folkard’s brother is an archer in the British Junior team while both mum and dad have competed at county level in the sport.
Clearly not one to shy away from hard work, Naomi is a music graduate from Birmingham University and is an accomplished violin and piano player and she’s also chasing another degree, this time in mathematics, at the Open University.
A strong contender in the team event in London but watch out for Naomi in the individual event, a definite dark horse.
Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images AsiaPac
The Full Interview
1) How did you first get into Archery?
I tried it when I was at a family scout camp when I was 5 years old. I can’t remember it well, but I do believe that I thought it was weird and wasn’t particularly keen to do it again. However my dad loved it and soon after we got back home he investigated and joined our local club in Leamington Spa. Dad spent so much time down the field shooting that my mum, brother and myself started archery a year or so later.
2) After competing in Athens and Beijing, this will be your third Olympics, does the fact that it’s in London have any effect on your ambitions? Or is it simply another competition that you train for in the same manner as the previous competitions?
I always shoot as best I can whatever the competition. Obviously the London Olympics is a special event, but it’s pointless to me to pile extra pressure on myself, so all I can do is prepare as best I can for it and then when the time comes to compete there, I will just enjoy shooting great arrows.
3) Do you feel that because it’s in London, there may be a level of complacency or is it completely the opposite and you want to impress because it’s on your home turf?
Neither situation would lead to good shooting from me, so I will behave the same as I would at any other event.
4) When did you believe that you wanted to pursue this as a career as oppose to a hobby?
I became a full time archer after I graduated in 2005. However I would not call archery a career – one day I will grow up and do something a little more sensible with better long term! After London I will train part time and set myself up as a private violin and piano teacher. I have also started studying mathematics with Open University and I would like to continue with this through to getting a degree.
5) You graduated from Birmingham University, was it hard to balance both your education and the sport? Was there ever a time in which one took priority?
I spent a lot of time practicing my instruments and archery, which didn’t really leave enough time for the rest of my studies. A lot of time was expected to be spent self studying in the library which wasn’t my thing. My tutors were supportive enough and the Munroe sport centre allowed me to use the gym for free which was great.
6) The archery will be taking place at Lords Cricket Ground which has come in for a fair amount of criticism, what are your thoughts on the chosen location?
I don’t recall much criticism.The best venue I will ever shoot at was in Panatheniko Stadium in Athens. I felt like a gladiator. This could never be created in London. However Lord’s as a venue is much better than the venue in Beijing, which was a specially built construction and was demolished immediately after the competition had finished. There the seating started well above eye level so it had no atmosphere from the crowd and it just felt cold and thankless.Lords is not ideal as the nursery isn’t big enough to hold the number of practice bosses which will be required. However the important thing is the competition. Lords is a world renown venue and has a great prestige. I know the Indian team are excited to compete there. Temporary seating will be built over the grass at Lords, which will not detract from the venue as the seating will be low lying and you will still be able to see the media centre and the special architecture on the outside of the Long Room and changing rooms.I know that the crowd will be excited to watch sport whatever the sport and in the case of archery it will be just the same. In the end it is the crowd, the volunteers and the archers that make the competition a success, not a venue.
7) How do you rate your chances of going to London and achieving a top three finish?
In Beijing we were so close to a bronze medal. We have improved a lot since then, however so has everybody else, of course. We will do everything we can to prepare and in the end, all we can do is do our best.
8) Away from Archery, how much free time do you get and what do you like to do in those free hours?
Not a lot of free time. I have one day off a week. I like to spend time with my family, my parents have a dog (we never had a pet any better than a hamster when I was young) so I love to fuss Bessie and take her out walking. I also spend time reading, painting, practicing my music and gardening. During the spring and summer I spend about an hour in the garden every day that I’m at home, I find it so diverting and relaxing, even if it’s just a bit of weeding.
9) If you had to choose another career path, what would it be?
As I previously said violin and piano teacher, perhaps a mathematics teacher.
One Word Answers
Favourite Colour: Purple
Favourite Food: Anything with pasta, especially lasagne
Favourite Type of Music: Debussy
Favourite TV Program: Big Bang Theory
Biggest Inspiration: Miss Park
Best Memory in Archery: Walking down the tunnel and out into the Panatheniko Stadium
I’d like to wish Naomi all the best for the future and thank her and her team for their recent cooperation.
Watch Naomi in action against Charlotte Burgess!
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