Lesley Sleight shooting for England came away with the Bronze medal at the IFAA World Indoor Archery Championships in Romania.The World Champion for Ladies Longbow was Neringa- Martinsone from Latvia. Silver medal went to Sirkel-Suviste Estonia and Lesley secured Bronze for England.
After two days of shooting Lesley was in fifth position some fifteen points adrift from medal contention. On the final day Lesley put in a great first half performance and suddenly found herself in with a chance of a medal. The pressure became immense as three archers could potentially take third spot. Lesley managed to stay ahead and took bronze by a mere two points from Grigiene from Lithuania. Only three points separated third to fifth positions.
Lesley said: 'The competition became suddenly really intense and as a result performances started deteriorating I found it extremely stressful so much so that on the final end I could hardly keep my bow still. I really thought I had blown my chances. I was over the moon when I found out that I had secured bronze for England. I now need to work on the mental aspects of the sport especially keeping calm under pressure.I went to the World Championships with no medal expectations. This was my first competitive indoor season and after winning the Scottish and English Indoor Championships I went to Romania for the experience.I made the decision to have a year out from teaching to concentrate on full time training and it seems to be paying off."
Photo - Lesley Sleight, Ketija Neringa Martinsone, Inge Sirkel-Suviste.
