For those of you un-aware of the Invictus Games, it stemmed from an idea that Prince Harry had when visiting a competition in the USA. Harry suggested having an international competition where wounded, injured and sick military and veterans can compete against one another with the aim of using sport as an aid to rehabilitation. The first Invictus Games took place in London 2014 and was an epic success.
This year was no different; over 500 competitors from 15 countries battled it out to win their relevant competitions. Most of the injured that took part knew that they would have a slim chance of winning but Invictus is not about that. Invictus is about showing that no matter what injury, illness or sickness you suffer; you have the ability to do great things, sometimes even bigger and better than when you were fully fit!
Some of you may be aware that I was in a bad place when I came to the club, I was suffering from low mood, anxiety and frequently had violent outbursts, this coupled with my physical condition called ankylosing spondylitis caused me to seriously lack in motivation and confidence. I needed something that could calm my mind and help me relax while helping my physical wellbeing. I found my answer in archery.
Fast-forward 11 months and I was training alongside 30 other athletes and being instructed by some of archery GB’s top coaches.
On the 3rd of May 2016 myself and 109 other athletes boarded a Virgin Airways flight to Orlando. Not only was I going as an athlete but I was also going as the UK Team Vice Captain (VC), an honor that I still cannot quite believe. We landed and were ushered through airport security. (For those of you that wish to take your bow to and from the US, they refer to them as firearms and are treated as such). We arrived at athlete village and got some sleep until the jetlag hit home at 0330 the next morning.
The day of the 4th the UK archery team traveled to the ESPN Wide World of Sports. The venue for the Invictus Games and immediately I realized that the Americans had fully gone to town! Everything was big and brash; there were security on every corner and hundreds of people all wearing t-shirts that stated “I AM Volunteering” All had the typical southern American happiness where you thought everyone was on Prozac!
The Sunday brought the archery ranking round between 10am and 4pm. The open category and the Compounders shot first followed by the Novice shooters after lunch. Due to time limitations the Invictus organizers reduced the prelim shoot to ½ a WA18, this meant that there was less space for error during the shoot and everyone had to be on their game from the first shot. When the buzzer went for my first 2 minutes I was very nervous and started to over think my shot routine. I managed to control my nerves and by the end of the prelim shoot I was first with an average of 9.1 per arrow.
At the end of the prelims the UK team where in a very strong position with Martin Clapton (UK) and myself in second and first in the novice and Angelito Barbierato with Chris Macfadyen (both UK) topping the Open category. The compound category as always was very tight and a high level and the top 3 UK team came in at 8th 10th and 13th.
Once the prelim scores were finalized, we moved onto the semis, I was up against Sarah Travis of Canada who shot well but luckily I managed to put her through to the bronze medal match in straight sets. Martin (who shoots to a ridiculously high level bearing in mind he has a mouth release) was just pipped to the post by Nicolas Meunier of Canada. The finals for the novice were set; it would be UK vs Canada for both the Gold medal match and the Bronze.
In the Open category both the UK shooters had got through to the gold medal match leaving Italy’s Para-Archer Fabio Tomasulo facing off against Frances Raphael Perriraz for the bronze.
Team events where also decided on prelim scores and in the Novice category it was UK team vs Canada for the Gold medal and Denmark vs USA for the Bronze.
The compounders had managed to fight their way to a place to shoot for the bronze medal, the lads where adamant that they were not going to leave empty handed.
That evening was the opening ceremony for the Invictus with celebrities such as James Blunt, Morgan Freeman and Michelle Obama all helping to raise awareness of Para sport and also try to de-stigmatize hidden wounds such as PTSD and other psychological issues. That night I went to bed happy with my performance and looking forward to the oncoming finals.
On the Monday morning I was up in earnest, I had a lot to do in my VC duties and I wanted to get some training done before my finals. I spent the morning supporting the power lifters and rowers then at about 2pm I started to warm up for the forthcoming shoot off. My coaches, Tony and Gaynor, instructed me that they wanted me to shoot no more than 30 arrows as they did not me to over do it. So I took my time and made the 30 last.
At 7pm we were taken down to the waiting area, I was nervous and I was aware I could hear my heart thumping in my ears. Martin (UK) was called forward to shoot head to head with Sarah (Canada) Martin cleaned up comfortably and walked away very happy with the bronze. Then it happened, I was given my 2-minute warning.
The dry ice filled the tunnel and I heard my name being announced from the commentary box, I walked out through the smoke into the arena and the noise was deafening, 3000 people all shouting, screaming and applauding. I walked over to my coach (Gaynor) and she told me to relax and take my time. Nicolas came out to the same rapturous applause. We shook hands and both lined up on our targets.
I was given the choice and I decided to shoot first, my first arrow went low as I hesitated just before releasing subsequently I handed the first set to Nicolas. I realized the more noise the crowd made the more I settled so I made a conscious effort to get the crowd going. The more noise they made the better I shot and we matched each other set for set until we got to a 1 arrow shoot off. While they changed the targets on the boss Gaynor had her motivational coaching talk with me. These words will be etched into my brain until the end of time, she said and I quote “Relax, Remember your shot routine and don’t F**k it up”.
I was informed from the official that I would shoot first. The buzzer went and I approached the shooting line. The crowed were shouting and applauding up until I drew my bow and then silence.
Those of you at the club who know me know that I shoot fairly quickly, I’m forever having Shai and Dave Parker telling me to slow down and take my time, This one arrow I took almost the full 20 seconds, 11 months of practice and hard work left the bow in the form of an arrow and struck the target. It was an X, The crowed erupted and I could not contain my relief, I screamed out “COME ON”! as I turned to watch Nicolas take his shot, my eyes burning into the back of his skull. He released and his arrow struck the gold almost cutting the line of the 10. I had won! The feeling of elation when the entire arena screamed out was unlike anything I will ever experience ever again.
The rest of the archery was also amazing and the UK cleaned up, we had the following results:
Novice Recurve
- Gold – Gareth Paterson UK
- Bronze – Martin Clapton
Open Recurve
- Gold – Angilito Barberito
- Silver – Chris Macfayden
Team Novice
Gold – Team UK (Gareth Paterson, Matthew Elliott, Martin Clapton)
Team Open
Gold – Team UK (Angilito Barberito, Chris Macfayden, Carl Tarry)
Team Compound
Bronze – Team UK (Daniel Grobler, Jon Flint, Andy Phillips)
By the end of the entire Invictus Games the UK team were only 1 medal behind the USA who won it overall.
The men and women who enter this competition cannot do it without the love and support of our friends and families and we want to make you all proud. As well as show the world what we can do.
So on behalf of the UK Invictus Team can I say a huge THANK YOU to you all.
I AM INVICTUS
“The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.”