Fin du processus de sélection olympique pour l'équipe britannique

Alan WILLS and Michael PEART (© archerybg) Larry GODFREY and Simon TERRY in the men's event, and Amy OLIVER and Naomi FOLKARD in the women's can start planning for the Olympic Games. They all impressed on the final day of Team GB's extensive selection process at Lilleshall by finishing in the top two of their respective events. Alison WILLIAMSON, who finished in third place in the women's tournament, remains on course for a sixth successive Olympics, while Alan WILLS fought off Michael PEART's determined challenge to clinch the men's third place in the selection standings. After three intense weekends of head-to-head competition, which started with 17 hopefuls vying for six spots, two-time Olympian GODFREY topped the men's standings with a score of 6518.40. TERRY, who took double bronze in the Barcelona Games as an 18-year-old, took second place with 6485.40. WILLS took third place ahead of a spirited Michael PEART. OLIVER confirmed herself as the top medal prospect in the women's ranks, heading the scores with 6167.60, while FOLKARD shot consistently to pip WILLIAMSON into third place. It would nevertheless be a huge surprise if WILLIAMSON, who was Britain's highest-ranked female archer at the end of 2011, did not win a place ahead of fellow hopeful Charlotte BURGESS. The top two finishers qualify automatically for the Olympic Games. The third selection place will be decided by Archery GB's Performance Director Sara SYMINGTON and Head Coach Lloyd BROWN and confirmed at a British Olympic Association hosted Press Conference at Lords on 9 May 2012. "We've had three days of outstanding archery from eight very talented archers, and they can all be very proud of themselves," said SYMINGTON. "Obviously I'd love them all to be able to compete at the Olympics, but there's only six places, and those who've made it have done so under considerable pressure and against superb opposition. Not only that, they've done it in a multitude of weather conditions over the past three days—driving rain, hail storms, wind, and sunshine too." Victories were spread around on the final day. TERRY and GODFREY both won two each, as did FOLKARD and OLIVER. In the battle for third place in the men's event, PEART started the day with a big boost as he beat his WILLS 6-4, for his sixth victory in seven matches. But despite that loss, and a defeat to TERRY in the last match of the shoot, WILLS was scoring consistently well to make sure he was always in the driving seat. Said SYMINGTON: "Michael's (PEART) worked really hard, and been in great form at this event, but Alan's (WILLS) responded with some tremendous shooting, and though he only won two matches, his scoring has been consistently high." The final scores were an accumulation of all three selection shoots. Final standings Men: Larry GODFREY 6518.40, Simon TERRY 6485.40, Alan WILLS 6254.60, Michael PEART 6211.00. Women: Amy OLIVER 6167.60, Naomi FOLKARD 6130.67, Alison WILLIAMSON 6058.60, Charlotte BURGESS 5899.73. Follow Archery GB on Twitter: @archerygb Peter JONES Media, Archery GB, +44 (7841) 997408 Edited by World Archery Communication
Compétitions