At the World Para Championships in Czech Republic, Great Britain won four medals and secure three 2024 Paris Paralympic quota places.
The archers from GB who competed at the 2023 World Para Championships in Pilsen shone bright on the finals stage. First up were the visually impaired 2/3 archers, of which there were three athletes from GB in the top four. In the bronze medal match, 2nd ranked Nick Thomas met 5th ranked Phil Tranter. Nick took the lead from the first end with a 25 to Phil’s 14, and he maintained this momentum to take the match with a clean 6-0 win.
Nick said: "Winning the bronze medal feels like a huge achievement. I suffered a stroke in late May and was scared that would be the end of my Championship hopes, but with hard work and determination I was able to achieve a fantastic result."
In the fight for gold, 1st ranked Steve Prowse shot against Italy’s 3rd ranked Daniele Piran. The first end was tied on 23 apiece, and Steve won the next two ends to take the points to 5-1. The final end was tied on 23 points which was enough for Steve to win the match 6-2.
Steve said: "This is my fourth World Championship gold medal, and every one is so special for its own reason. The range of archers, from a growing number of countries participating, is therefore now making the category far more competitive. Which can only be a good thing for the future of VI archery."
On the compound side of the competition, Phoebe Paterson Pine and Jodie Grinham shot in the gold medal match for the women’s open doubles. They ranked in 4th and shot against the 7th ranked team from Brazil. The Brazilians took the lead after the first end with a 39 to GB’s 38. Phoebe and Jodie then responded with a 37 and a 38 to a two-point lead with one end left to go. An almost perfect 39 to finish the match won GB the title with a 152-145 win.
Jodie said: "We've shot together for years like when it was a three-person team, even when it went to doubles we've shot together. We won gold back in Czech Republic but the one thing we'd never done was got World Champion, so we've ticked that box finally."
Phoebe added: "I think for me personally, having gone out and got Paralympic champion, European champion and now World champion I feel like I've got the set. So I feel like I exceeded my expectations of what I wanted to come out here and do."
The last match of the day saw 8th ranked Nathan Macqueen compete for the compound men’s open title against Italy’s 14th ranked Matteo Bonacina. Both men were tied after the first two ends on 57 points apiece. A 27 and a perfect 30 from Bonacina gave him a three-point lead over Nathan. In the final end, Nathan shot a 28 to the Italian’s 27, but it wasn’t quite enough to take the win from Bonacina who won 141-139. Nathan brought home the silver World Para Championships medal.
Nathan said: "It means the world to me to finally bring home a worlds medal. I got myself into a really good spot for the worlds in 2022 and unfortunately missed it due to catching covid two days before flying. So this is redemption for me. I was just trying to take it an arrow at a time and not think too much about anything else other than the next shot."
Through their finishing positions during the week's shooting, the team have earned the following quota spots for the 2024 Paralympic Games:
See all the scores here.
