Naomi Folkard

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Naomi has been selected for the Bejing Olympic archery squad, joining Alison Williamson (bronze medallist in Athens) and Charlotte Burgess in the ladies' recurve team. This will be her second Olympics and, as she is now ranked ninth in the world, she is a serious medal hope.

Road to success

Born and educated in Leamington Spa, Naomi took up archery (along with the rest of her family) at the age of 7. Combining top level competition with the pressures of a music degree at Birmingham University was clearly a challenge that Naomi took in her stride as she was chosen to represent GBR as part of the women’s archery team at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

In 2004, despite keeping pace with her studies, Naomi had a string of achievements including 1^st in the National Indoor Championships, 1^st in the UK Masters and 11^th at the Olympic games. Overall, she was ranked no 1. GB lady. Following her success, she collected a number of accolades including Birmingham University Sportswoman of the Year, the BBC West Midlands Breakthrough Award and was second to Kelly Sutherton (bronze medal winner, heptathlon, Athens) in the Birmingham Sportswoman of the Year Event.

She had a successful 2005 / 06 indoor season culminating in a silver medal at the European Indoor Championships in Spain in March 2006. She is also making inroads into field archery and has qualified for selection for the World Field Archery Championships in Sweden in September.

She happily admits that her ambition is to win an Olympic gold medal – so look out Beijing – or possibly London! Follow the links below to the Grand National Archery Society and the Royal Leamington Spa Archery Society for more information about Naomi and her sport.

www.gnas.org

www.rlsas.com

Naomi in action at the 2004 Athens Olympics