Setting a Target for the Tokyo Paralympics

Credit: ParalympicsGB

With the Tokyo Paralympics looking to go ahead this year, we caught up with veteran archer and Paralympic Medalist John Stubbs.

John, you’ve had an interesting sports career, having tried a variety of sports, what is it about archery that grabbed your interest?

I was playing cricket beforehand, but I was talking about sport more than I was participating. I needed to find something that took my interest. In those days you needed to go to a disabled sports club and there was nothing there that really grabbed me. I was leaving the facility thinking I would just persevere with cricket, and as I went to leave, low and behold archery was taking place outside. As an able bodied person archery never appealed to me. As a wheelchair user I was a bit reluctant, but the guy running the archery session encouraged me to give it a go, and he gave me a bow, took me through the basics and it really captured me. It was a challenge, it was something new; I had good hand eye coordination, so I knew I could use my abilities. I took to it like a duck takes to water.

I went home, bought a basic archery set-up, set up a space at home and shot virtually every day. I became quite good at it. I moved to archery club to test my abilities. I enjoyed it, but it was tough. I persevered and look where I am now. Archery has given me my life back. I have given more to my sport than to any other aspect of my life. I’ve struggled with being disabled, but archery has made me feel I have done something with my life.

“THERE IS ALWAYS A WORRY THAT YOU MIGHT NOT MAKE THE TEAM.” “THAT IS ALL I WANT TO BE REMEMBERED FOR, FOR BEING A GOOD ARCHER.”

You are a Paralympic gold medallist already in, what are your aims and goals for the 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo?

Just to be on the plane and flying into Tokyo will be an achievement. I’m going to be 56 when I go to Tokyo, so every year that passes me by, especially with the games being delayed, is precious. There is always a worry that you might not make the team, whether it be because of health or motivation, ability as an athlete. I am never going to underestimate the ability of the athletes that I am up against in my category. They are the top 32 archers in the world, so to be going and to be competitive, anyone of the 32 can win. You are actually challenging for one medal, and you’ve not got to underestimate silver and gold. So to come back with a medal of any description will be all my dreams coming true.

How has the pandemic impacted your training and focus?

It’s impacted more on my home life than my sport life. When we first went into lockdown it became about the set-up at home. Whether it is 5 metres, 10 metres, 80 metres, it is about getting a target out there and using the same bow; it then becomes about keeping muscle memory. I was able to keep my training up.

With home, however, we started to struggle, same as many of us did. Getting special dispensation to go back to training last summer though, really helped with my home life. Being back at squad saved me as an athlete. In training we have to social distance, wear a mask, etc, and when we are not training or eating meals we are in room lockdown, so it’s not all fun and games, but we are all very thankful for this opportunity.

You acquired your disability through an accident, which impacted not just your physical health, but also your mental health. How has sport helped support your mental health?

I acquired my disability back in 1989. I was 24, in the prime of my life, newly married with a family, and I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. I suffered depression, started drinking alcohol and taking drugs, and contemplated suicide. All of this was a big cry for help, and it was then that I got the support I needed. It was going into a young disabled person’s unit, back in those days, that gave me a realisation to how lucky I was, because at least I could make a decision about what my future was going to bring.

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