Maja Jager becomes first archer selected for Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Maja Jager has become the first archer to be officially named to a team headed to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games following a joint announcement from Archery Denmark and the Danish Olympic Committee.

The 27-year-old, who was world champion in 2013, qualified Denmark a recurve women’s place to the Games at this year’s Hyundai World Archery Championships in ’s-Hertogenbosch in June.

“I’m really looking forward to the Tokyo Olympics. I clearly remember the great atmosphere in London and it’s going to be the same in Tokyo,” said Maja.

“It was a huge disappointment not to attend the Rio Olympics. But archery is a brutal sport where small circumstances can make a huge difference.”

Denmark did not qualify any places for the Olympic archery competitions in 2016.

Maja is the first athlete from Denmark, as well as the first archer worldwide, to be named to an Olympic team for Tokyo. Currently ranked 24th in the world, she’ll now embark upon a tailored training programme in the lead-up to the Games.

“The selection of the first athlete is a milestone that makes it clear to everyone that the Tokyo Olympics are fast approaching,” said Danish chef de mission Soren Simonsen.

“I had the pleasure of watching her win a medal at the European Games in June and I look forward to following her performance in Tokyo.”

The Danish recurve women’s team – Maja, Randi Degn and Anne Marie Laursen – finished third at the 2019 European Games in Minsk, defeating Germany in a shoot-off for the bronze medal.

A total of 128 archers – 64 men and 64 women – will compete for five medals at the next Olympics. Over the next 290 days, Denmark will try to add to its single quota spot.

The next opportunity is the European Championships in Antalya next May, where the Danish men could add an individual place.

Nations worldwide will then have a shot at one of three full team invitations at the final world qualification tournament, which will be held as part of the third stage of the 2020 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Berlin in June.

The archery competitions at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games begin on 24 July.