Cumbrian Archery Champion arrives at Beijing
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28th July 2008
West Cumbria’s Olympic medal hopeful Alan Wills flew out to China yesterday – with the best wishes of the county with him.
Alan, from Arlecdon, met Copeland mayor Keith Hitchen on Friday as he prepared to join the six-strong Great Britain archery team who will be taking part in next month’s Beijing Olympics.
Mr Hitchen told Alan, 26: “We are very proud to have Cumbria’s only Beijing Olympian on our doorstep.
“I’m sure the whole borough will be cheering him on every inch of the way. Looking at Alan’s previous success he is more than capable of bringing home a medal.
“All our good wishes go with him.”
The world No 5 will take part in the individual and three-man team events and is hopeful that the team will bring home some medals.
“We all get along well when we aren’t competing, which isn’t always the case with some of the other countries,” he said. “Myself, Larry Godfrey and Simon Terry are all the best of friends and I think this shows in our teamwork.”
Alan and his team-mates flew from Heathrow to the island of Macau for 10 days of acclimatisation before moving on to Beijing on August 5.
He will start competing on August 9, the day after the opening ceremony.
“We have as good a chance as anyone to win medals,” said Alan, who only found out he had qualified for an Olympic place at the end of June.
Around 30 countries will be competing against Great Britain, including world number ones Korea and a strong Indian side.
Last year Alan was ranked third in the world. He said: “I never expected to do as well as I did last year. It gave me the confidence. After all of the hard work, I deserve to go to Beijing.
“I feel like a footballer because I am getting paid a lot of money to do something I love.”
Alan is a joiner by trade, working for Frizington-based C & E Builders. Funding from UK Sport means he has been able to focus full-time on archery recently. But, he said: “My boss has been absolutely great. The firm has showed a massive amount of support for me, giving me time off to compete and to rest injuries, and I’d like to thank them for that.”
Find out more about the Olympics at the official website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.