Olympic debutants ready to mark their mark in Tokyo

How do you prepare for something you’ve never done before?

On the verge of her first Olympics, Casey Kaufhold is still searching for a suitable frame of reference. 

“It’s hard to predict what it’s going to feel like,” the USA archer said. “I’ve talked to some people about it, and they all say it feels bigger and more important than anything you’ve ever done. I think that’s probably because it is. After all, it’s the Olympics.”

Kaufhold, just 17 years old, is one of 70 archers making their debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. 

The youngest member of the USA archery team broke onto the international circuit as a senior at the age of just 15, winning mixed team gold at the 2019 Pan American Games with world number one Brady Ellison and qualifying the USA women an Olympic quota spot in the process. 

In May, Kaufhold shot an under-21 world record for the 72-arrow, 70-metre qualification round during USA team trials in Utah. She went on to confirm her ticket to the Games, occupying that individual quota place she had earned two years prior, then anchored the USA recurve women’s team to a full team quota at the final qualifier in Paris. 

In spite of her inexperience, Kaufhold has quickly established herself as one of the most dependable shooters on the planet. The promising young archer is uninterested in a gradual process as she looks to become the first USA woman to medal since Luann Ryon won gold at Montreal 1976. 

“I’m there to win gold” Kaufhold said of her expectations for Tokyo. “I don’t feel like I’m inexperienced or that I’m too young or I’m not mature enough. I really think this is just the beginning. It’s crazy to think this is only the start.”

For other Olympic debutants, experiencing success early has been more difficult to reconcile. 

James Woodgate, the youngest member of Great Britain’s archery team at 19 years old, has been candid about the fact he wouldn’t have qualified for Tokyo had the Games taken place as scheduled last summer.

The one-year postponement revolutionised his ambitions, inspiring him to take a gap year from his studies and spend all of his time intensively training. 

Earning his spot on the national team initially felt like a logical progression, he said.

He put in the work, and the results followed. It wasn’t until the Games drew nearer that a bout of imposter syndrome settled in.

“Once I was selected, I felt the need to perform well everywhere and prove that I deserved to make the team,” he said. “As I’ve come through that, I’m in a much more comfortable place.”

Woodgate’s teammate, Patrick Huston, has described him as a talented-but-unproven archer, having limited experience on the international stage.

The younger archer lost in the second round of the third stage of the 2021 Hyundai Archery World Cup, but he nonetheless felt bullish about his showing in the qualification round there, after seeding 12th with a promising score of 671.

His appearance in Paris was a far cry from the 2012 Olympics in London, where a 10-year-old Woodgate watched the archery competition from the stands of Lord's Cricket Ground and delighted in meeting future teammate Naomi Folkard.

Nine years later, the two are descending on the Games together as part of a six-strong British archery squad. The nation delivered a surprise when it booked a full quota at the primary qualifier in 2019. Woodgate, who wasn’t anywhere close to Olympic level thre years ago, might not have the pedigree of his veteran teammates – but in this post-pandemic year, no one will quite know what to expect.

Past results also indicate that a lack of experience could be an asset in Tokyo. Since the modern archery competition began at the 1972 Olympics, 19 of the available 24 individual gold medals have been won by athletes appearing in their first Games. 

“I doubt all of those people really went, ‘hey, I’m definitely going to win this’, so I won’t be like that either,” Woodgate said. “But I love the idea of turning up, having all of the television cameras on me, and performing the best I ever have. I think I’m going to enjoy that.”

The archery competitions at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games start on 23 July.