China Archery

The Chinese recurve women defend their World Archery Para Champion title on home soil in Beijing.
The defending world champions matched the world record on home soil in qualifying at the 2017 World Para Archery Championships, and secured a gold medal match berth against Italy.

The top-seeded recurve women’s open team in Beijing, China is represented by Lin Dandan, Wu Chunyan and Cai Geya at these worlds. Lin and Wu both return from the title-winning Chinese team at Donaueschingen 2015, where they beat Russia in the final.
We found out what makes them tick.

WHAT ORDER DO YOU SHOOT IN AND WHY?
Wu: Lin, Cai, then me. Why? We are just used to it. It’s like a secret agreement. And we encourage each other and cheer for each other that way.
WHAT’S A FULL TRAINING REGIME LIKE? HOW MANY ARROWS PER DAY?
Cai: Maybe 500? That’s a lot!
Wu: It’s not set. When we are practicing hard for competition, it’s a lot. When we are relaxing, it will be a lot less.
Lin: About 400-500.

WHO’S THE TEAM LEADER? WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO?
[Everybody points at Wu.]
Wu: What do I do? I gather everyone to do the routine exercises before practice, and get everybody going. When our coaches have orders, I pass them on.
WHAT DOES THE CHINESE TEAM FOCUS ON THAT YOU THINK OTHER TEAMS DON’T FOCUS ON?
Wu: We are together.
Cai: We try and bring out the performance in our daily practice. If you are satisfied with your performance in the match, you really don’t think too much about the performance of other teams. Read more…