ARCHERY: The first Australian Olympic athletes in action are archers Taylor Worth and Elisa Barnard and they are fit, in career best form and ready to roll tomorrow, Friday, 27 July (Day 0) when they contest the ranking round on the Lord’s Cricket Ground Nursery.

In the individual ranking round, all archers will receive their ranking from 1 to 64 based on their total score after 72 arrows. Worth will toe the line at 9am (BST) in the men’s individual round, followed by Barnard in the women’s round from 1pm (BST). The individual competition will then move to the hallowed turf on Lord’s Cricket Ground, where the head-to-head knockout competition will kick off on Monday 30 July.

Worth, 21, enters the Games in the best form of his life, after finishing sixth in the Olympic qualifying tournament in Utah last month and claiming the scalp of world No. 1 Brady Ellison (USA) along the way.

The Perth-based archer, who was a member of the gold-medal winning team at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, hopes that this form and confidence will roll onto the London Games.

“It was my career best performance in America, and I’m trying to keep this momentum going into this competition,” said Worth.  “My training is going really well, I’m feeling really good, and I think I’m ready to shoot well.”

“I was using training arrows over the last couple of days in training, but today I got out my nice competition arrows and they are shooting beautifully.”

The Australian pair had their first taste of the unique and historic field of play on Wednesday, when they were allocated their 30 minute familiarisation on the centre of Lords. For Barnard and Worth, who are making their Olympic debut, the temporary grandstands set the scene for an exciting yet unique environment for the pair.

“Being inside the grandstand for the first time, it looks immaculate,” continued Worth. “It was a little bit overwhelming at first, but as soon you step onto the line you don’t see anything else.”

“I found that as soon as I stepped into the stadium I switched on and felt I was able to get down to business.”

Not only is Barnard, 19, soaking up the incredible Olympic experience for the first time, it is also the Sydney teenager’s inaugural visit to London. Yesterday, Athlete Liaison Officer and Australian cricket legend Steve Waugh escorted the Australian pair onto the hallowed turf and into the historic pavilion at Lords. Despite not being a huge cricket fan, Barnard now understands the magic, occasion and history of the Lord’s ground.

“I was talking to Steve at lunch the other day and I asked him why Lords is so special,” said Barnard.

“He said it’s not the way the ground’s set up, it’s the atmosphere and the vibe you get. I didn’t really know what he meant before today. Because when I walked out there, there really was a vibe you couldn’t explain, there was something really special about the place. I’m not a major cricket fan and I could still feel it, so it’s a real honour.“

A permanent fixture on the Olympic program since 1972, Australia has won two medals in archery, with gold to Simon Fairweather at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, followed by a bronze to Tim Cuddihy in Athens four years later.

Michelle Cook in London
olympics.com.au