Five reasons why para archery is literally for everybody

One moment, an accident can turn life upside down. Some people are born with disabilities, and others gradually lose sight or use of limbs.

These are the situations all para athletes went through. They could fight them and change the unpleasant reality into lives full of happiness. Regardless of the grade of their disability, background and obstacles, they are on the international stage to compete, challenge themselves and follow their dreams. 

All archers listed below went through weak days, months, dejection, lacked motivation, and at one point they took a bow. They met someone who introduced them to archery, they got inspired by other athletes and sometimes even couldn’t imagine it would influence their lives so much. Now, they also try to inspire others.

Here are five reasons – and many more stories – why there is no right place, time or circumstance to start archery.

1. At any age

There is no age limit. No matter whether you take up archery being a teenager or an adult, if you are in your 20s or in your 40s.

Poland’s Milena Olszewska didn’t even know archery existed until she went studying. Now, she is a multiple Paralympics and Para Worlds medallist. 

“I did not search for any sport. I did not even know archery was a sport. The Bukanskis encouraged me to try and it worked out. I liked archery. Maybe it was about that precision, repetition which you had to learn,” she said describing her way to the international stage.

Some of the para archers began their careers even later.

Anton Ziapaev made his Paralympics debut in Tokyo. When he was 34, an icicle fell from high and hit his neck. He has been forced to use a wheelchair ever since. A year later, an archery coach visited his hometown and by accident, he got on a training session.

“They told impaired people to come and try. So I went and tried. I really liked it,” he claimed.

2. Even after tough beginnings 

Chile’s Mariana Zuñiga was one of the most brilliant stars at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. She reached silver in her debut. And she was the first Chilean Paralympian in archery, too.

Mariana started early, being only 10, but treated archery as her hobby. Then, when she was around 15 or 16, she took up compound and practised in a place she found on the internet.

Despite the fact that she shoots from a wheelchair, her first competition was a... field event. And it means a lot of moving from target to target.

“It was difficult because there was kind of mountains and I did not notice that before,” she explained. “I am in a wheelchair and that place was not accessible for people with disabilities.”

Such an experience didn’t discourage Mariana, who kept on practising and made her dreams come true when she travelled to Tokyo.

3. With visual impairments

When Ruben Vanhollebeke, the visually impaired World Archery Champion, heard about para archery, he took it almost as a joke.

“I thought, ‘an aiming sport for blind people? No way!’ But a teacher told me he was giving lessons and asked me if I wanted to try. I immediately replied that I wanted,” he once said to World Archery. 

Ruben was born with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative disease that breaks down the iris. He was losing his sight progressively, which forced him to quit his job. And then he found archery.

“I had not shot before I got blind,” he explained.

And when Ruben started, he got fully involved. He practised more and more, learnt and climbed. He is now a two-time World Archery Para Champion.

4. No arms, no problem

The world of archery has known him for years. The world of global sport once again learnt about the extraordinary story of Matt Stutzman at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. The famous Armless Archer, so his nickname says, has no arms. Shooting archery? It’s just a piece of cake for the American who had to hunt to feed his family. He has competed for years and finally achieved a World Archery Para Champion title in 2022.

For a long time, Stutzman was lonesome in the field. It changed in Tokyo when Piotr van Montagu appeared and immediately brought attraction. The Belgium athlete was born without arms and with an impairment to his right leg. That story is no less inspiring. He was orphaned in Poland and later on adopted in Belgium. He also holds his bow with his feet in a similar fashion to Stutzman. And they both met in Dubai and in Tokyo.

The latest para worlds proved armless archers could compete successfully. In the 2022 final, Stutzman clashed against Aleksandr Gombozhapov, whom he inspired (read more: Stutzman says inspiring other armless archer “better than winning”). Gombozhapov lost both his arms in 2003. In his only third international event, he was the runner-up losing only to his hero. 

Michael Lukow served in the armed forces in Iraq. At the age of 21, he lost the bottom of his right leg and full use of his left. “The convoy got hit by a bomb and it tore all kinds of holes. I instantly knew everything that was going on. I was conscious,” the American athlete recalled. But he was somewhat prepared mentally for what could happen during military operations. He recovered psychically and took the bow. “An old Vietnam veteran came to me by the rehab centre and introduced me to the sport,” he said. Michael finished seventh at the Para Pan Am Championships in 2022.

The list of inspirational stories is endless, and has been completed by the thunderous debuts of a first armless female archer in 2023. India’s Sheetal Devi only started shooting 11 months before her first world championships where she won silver at just 16. She has been awarded with several domestic and international distinctions since then, and will make her Paralympic Games debut in Paris 2024.

5. Overcoming mental health

You might be a winner, but you can still struggle mentally. Phoebe Paterson Pine‘s happiness couldn’t resist depression, even after she clinched gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

“I had to deal with that quite a lot and it really stopped me from enjoying the moment. I can remember I was happy for maybe 24 hours after I won. After that, I immediately felt anxious,” she claimed.

There were days the British hardly got up from her bed. But archery is what makes her motivated.

“The one thing that keeps me going is the fight to win and to get better in a sport that I do. When I wake up in the morning and feel I cannot get out of my bed, I remind myself of what I achieved even when I felt down.”

Phoebe challenged herself and fought against depression and anxiety. The last few years were incredibly successful for her and that also boosted her confidence.

“I have a lot more belief that I can achieve anything that I put in my mind,” she said.