Athlete of the week: Michael PEART (GBR)

       The British archer Michael PEART has this month decided to end his 20 year international shooting career. Not because he has lost his love of the sport, quite the opposite, he has taken on the role of Paralympic Coach for Archery GB.   PEART’s international career started in 1994 when he won the 1st leg of that year’s junior Europa Cup held at his now work place of Lilleshall National Sports Centre, England. He went on to win one more leg and the overall Cup that season, shooting the compound bow back then.   Michael PEART continued to shoot the compound bow internationally, winning both the Face2Face and the Mexican Olympic Festival, also picking up many medals and records on the way, until in 2001, when at the World Championships in China after medaling, he packed his compound bow up for the last time, retiring ranked No. 2 in the world to start a new challenge, the challenge of the recurve bow.   The Olympic dream was the reason for PEART’s change, a dream that never quite came true. After 8 years as a full time archer, reserve for the London Olympic Games was the closest he came. But qualifying 1st at the World Indoors 2005 and numerous Face2Face finals kept PEART on the international map.   Just days after missing out on selection for the London, Michael PEART was asked if he would consider working for the Olympic and Paralympic news service at the games.   “The toughest part of being Olympic reserve is that after years of hard work all focused on one event, you then do not take part at all, you are not sitting on the bench watching, you do not have the uniform. You are just sitting at home watching it on the television like everyone else and to me I knew that was going to be heart breaking”, said PEART.    On a coaching mission in Bhutan “Getting the chance to work for the Olympic/Paralympic news service as there sports specialist was a total gift. It gave me a chance to be a part of the event I had put so much work into, sure I was not taking part in the way I had intended but I loved every minute of it and was so proud to take part in what was a great Olympic Games.”   When did Michael PEART decide to retire from competitive shooting? Was it a difficult decision?   “It sort of crept up on me. I worked a full month at the Olympics, then worked again at the Paralympics. I then went straight from there to do two weeks compound coaching in Bhutan, I then went straight from Bhutan to Tokyo to work as a reporter at the World Cup Final. It was after these events that I realised I had gone 10 weeks without shooting and had not really missed it because archery had played a part in my life every single day. If I had quit shooting and gone back to working as an engineer I know I would have missed shooting like mad, it’s the sport itself and the people in it that are special to me.”   “The transition from archer to coach feels totally natural to me. I’ve been coaching for well over a decade now and helping my girlfriend Nicky HUNT win the Commonwealth Games and become world No. 1 was a fantastic feeling and made me realise how rewarding coaching can be. I feel honoured the faith Archery GB are showing in me.”   Follow Michael PEART on Twitter: @Archerymichael   You will find more results information on Michael PEART and all the other archers on the World Archery website.   World Archery Communication