2008 Outlook

The U.S. Archery Team will look for success at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing with the recent hire of world renowned archery coach Kisik Lee, a six-time Olympic Coach, as the new National Head Coach.  USA Archery expects Coach Lee to take the U.S. to a higher level in the sport of archery and to be able to contend with the top archery countries in the world, including Coach Lee’s native Korea.  USA Archery is anticipating Coach Lee will help the U.S. Team bring home gold in 2008 after failing to medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.   

Coach Lee is currently working with a very talented group of resident athletes at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., including Olympic hopefuls Guy Krueger (Blessing, Texas), Brady Ellison (Glendale, Ariz.), Kate Anderson (Sacramento, Calif.) and Joy Fahrenkrog (Castle Rock, Colo.).  Other top 2008 Olympic hopefuls in archery include four-time Olympian Butch Johnson (Woodstock, Conn.), who will be two weeks shy of turning 53-years-old when the Games kick off in Beijing, two-time Olympian Vic Wunderle (Mason City, Ill.) and 2004 Olympian Jennifer Nichols (Cheyenne, Wyo.) along with her third-ranked sister Amanda (Cheyenne, Wyo). 

There are a few up-and-coming athletes to watch for in Beijing including 20-year-old Dakota Sinclair (Ridgecrest, Calif.) and 19-year-old Lindsay Pian (Scottsdale, Ariz.).  Both Sinclair and Pian are current collegiate archers who have made their way up from the junior to adult ranks within the last year.  Also setting their sites on Beijing are third-ranked Joe McGlyn (Floral Park, N.Y.), two-time Olympic Team Alternate Jason McKittrick (Milan, Ind.), three-time Olympian for the Republic of Georgia, Khatuna Lorig (Bloomfield, Ind.) and fifth-ranked Stephanie Miller (Naperville, Ill.).

Storylines

Butch Johnson - Four-time Olympian Butch Johnson started shooting archery at the age of 15 because it was fun and he enjoyed the challenge.  Thirty-five years later, 50-year-old Johnson continues to challenge himself in the sport of archery as he is attempting to make his fifth consecutive U.S. Olympic Archery team in 2008.  Johnson will be a few weeks shy of turning 53-years-old by the time competition kicks off in Beijing.  Johnson is currently ranked number two in the U.S. and has even started shooting in the Masters 50+ category at some tournaments. 

Dakota Sinclair – Dakota’s brother Clarke was killed in a shotgun accident in September 2004.  He was only 15-years-old.  Dakota and Clarke were best friends and shooting partners and used to practice together five to six days a week.  Dakota said one of the reasons he improved as an archer was because Clarke was very good at archery and so he had to push himself to improve as well.  Dakota says when Clarke died, all of the Sinclair’s lives were turned upside down but the one thing he knew for sure was that he was going to continue shooting archery.  It was his and Clarke’s goal to make the 2008 Olympic Team together.  Dakota vows to honor Clarke by continuing their dream.  He says Clarke is with him all the time and when he makes the Olympic team, he will shoot the first arrow for him.

Brady Ellison – Seventeen-year-old Brady Ellison started shooting archery when he was still in diapers, although pictures show these initial attempts were with plastic equipment.  He mainly started shooting because his dad hunted and he wanted to hunt with him, and the hobby developed from there.  Brady shot a compound bow his entire life until last fall when he switched over to a recurve bow (the only bow used in the Olympic Games).    

National Head Coach Kisik Lee – USA Archery hired world-renowned archery coach Kisik Lee, a six-time Olympic Coach, as the new National Head Coach in January 2006.  USA Archery expects Lee to take the U.S. to a higher level in the sport of archery and to be able to contend with the top archery countries in the world, including Lee’s native Korea. 

Khatuna Lorig - Khatuna Lorig, 32, is a three-time Olympian from the Republic of Georgia.  She is currently ranked number two in the U.S.  She resides in Bloomfield, N.J., but is originally from the Republic of Georgia and was just granted her U.S. citizenship last year.  Lorig is a top contender for the women to make the 2008 Olympic Team.

Jennifer and Amanda Nichols - Jennifer, 22, is a 2004 Olympian and is ranked No. 1 in the U.S.  Amanda is three years younger than Jennifer and just started shooting in the senior division last year.  She quickly shot up the ranks and is now number three in the U.S.  The two sisters competed on their first international team together in March of 2005 at the World Indoor Championships in Aalborg, Denmark and share the dream of making the 2008 Olympic Team together.  They are full-time archers, best friends and pretty much spend every waking minute together.   Not only do the two sisters share practice time and archery “advice,” but also a bedroom, shoes, clothes, music and a great love for dance. 

Joy Fahrenkrog - Joy Fahrenkrog is the exception to the rule when it comes to U.S. women’s archery.  Just 18 months after picking up a bow, she was a finalist in the 2004 Olympic Trials, finishing in sixth place overall and missing the three-woman team by only 40 points out of more than 4,200.  She has placed in the top 10 in 16 of the 21 national and international level tournaments she has entered and is a two-time U.S. Archery Team (USAT) member.  Joy currently trains with renowned coach Kisik Lee while residing at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.  

Lindsay Pian – It’s hard for fourth-ranked Lindsay Pian not to think about the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.  Her father (Robert Pian) is first generation Chinese-American and both of her grandparents were from the Beijing/Tenjing area in China.  Her grandfather was a civil engineer and worked on the Yangtze River Three Gorges dam during its conceptual stages. He came to the U.S. in the 1940s, received a doctorate from Cornell, became a U.S. citizen and taught at Arizona State University for almost four decades.

Olympic Hopefuls over the age of 30  - Archery is a unique sport in that many of the top athletes are over the age of 30, 40 and even 50.  Archery is a sport that can be started at a very young age, and athletes can be competitive for a very long time.  Archery currently has five Beijing hopefuls over the age of 30 (Butch Johnson, 50; Vic Wunderle, 30; Joe McGlyn, 37; Jason McKittrick, 32; Khatuna Lorig, 32).