Bowstring
Virtuoso
With
near-perfect aim, Simon Fairweather puts Australian archery
on the Olympic map
By LISA CLAUSEN
It
is hard to see quite how archery reflects the Olympic motto
of "Faster, higher, stronger." Their arrows fly at up to 73
m/sec., but archers make a point of barely moving. There are
no heights involved, and while they need strength to hold
their high-tech bows steady, that alone won't win them any
prizes.
Excellence in archery demands other qualities-accuracy, stamina
and the focus needed to aim, ignoring cheering crowds and
pesky wind gusts, at a target 70 m away. Archery has never
matched the global popularity of Olympic favorites like swimming
or track, but last week the men's tournament produced one
of the Games' great local victories so far, when South Australian
Simon Fairweather clinched gold from American Victor Wunderle.
Fairweather had tasted success before, becoming world target
champion in 1991. But the rest of the '90s were a drought
for him. Despite being part of the winning Australian team
at last year's world indoor championships, Fairweather was
unable to repeat that form in individual competition-until
last week, when he stormed the men's contest. He beat rivals
from Cuba, France, Russia and the Netherlands on his way to
the Sept. 20 final, which he won by 113 points to 106, scoring
six bullseyes from his 12 arrows. With that victory, achieved
with reflector sunglasses and a steely gaze, Fairweather took
Australia's first ever archery medal, in front of a wildly
excited crowd: "Every time the crowd cheered, it was like
a cold chill," the 30-year-old said. "It was amazing."
The hometown roars helped, but Fairweather credits his dazzling
performance largely to coach Kisik Lee. Coach of both the
men's and women's teams since 1997, Lee was poached by Australia
from South Korea, where he had taken that nation's phenomenal
archers to gold at four Olympics. Lee brought with him a revolution.
Before his arrival, few of Australia's élite archers had full-time
coaching, says team manager Stuart Atkins: "We used to go
to international tournaments and watch other teams, trying
to work out what they did. Now we don't watch them-but Mr.
Lee says they're watching us."
Instead of focusing solely on their aim, says Atkins, Australia's
archers have a new mantra: "If you get the sequence right,
the outcome will take care of itself." Australia will now
be hoping Lee's magic rubs off on his other protégés. The
sport's shooting star may not be around for long: after his
historic win, Fairweather said he was thinking of retiring
to design jewelry.
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October 2, 2000
| NO. 39
C
O V E R
T H E OLYMPIC GAMES
SWIMMING:
Putsch in the Pool
Heroes of Olympics past clear the lanes-and the winners' dais-for a new
generation of brilliant young swimmers
The 1,500 m: Australia's favorites fight it out for gold
COVER:
The Tao of Steve
Britain's Redgrave makes it a perfect fifth in the coxless fours
TRACK:
The Fastest Pair on Earth
Jones and Greene perform incredible feats of athleticism
EQUESTRIAN:
Tally Ho!
The three-day event falls to Australia's horsey foursome
CYCLING:
Pedal Power
Brett Aitken and Scott McGrory conquer all in the madison
ARCHERY:
Golden Arrows
Simon Fairweather empties his quiver into a bullseye
Shooting: Ups and downs in the double trap
WATER
POLO: No. 1 in Two Seconds
A stunning goal rockets the Australian women to victory
OLYMPIC
SCENE
U
S A
CAMPAIGN
2000:
The Gore-Bush Oil War
What's the right way to deal with the petroleum price hikes?
A
R T S
MUSIC:
Jimi is still jamming
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