22-year-old Australian archer Laura Paeglis set to make Olympics debut
A young Australian archer making her Olympic debut has competed under conditions designed to mimic competition in Paris. 22-year-old Laura Paeglis is doing all she can to prepare to shoot on target, on the world's biggest archery stage.
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00:00Aiming for gold. Laura Paglis narrowly missed selection for the Tokyo Games three years
00:10ago, but now her Olympic dreams are back on target. She's qualified for Paris.
00:16I was the best feeling in the world.
00:19It was the animated movie Brave that sparked her interest in archery.
00:24And a little bit of the Hunger Games as well, but I think Brave was like the big one that
00:27I was just obsessed with.
00:30Her shooting went to a new level when her family moved to a bigger property. Paglis
00:36shoots up to 300 arrows a day at home with her dad as coach.
00:40Has it surprised you how committed your parents have become in supporting your archery?
00:45It does a bit actually. When I first started, they thought it was a joke.
00:51Today is no joke. Paglis is taking part in a mock Olympic tournament.
00:57On the eve of the Paris Games, the idea of today is to closely simulate Olympic competition.
01:03And that means distractions, including from the media and from the crowd.
01:09I think I did well. It was a bit of a learning point. A few bits there, you know, not getting
01:15distracted or overwhelmed.
01:17A couple of things that can happen is the wind not picking up on it quickly. Camera
01:23noises, media, even just the rhythm of the other shooter.
01:28Australia is a relative minnow in Olympic archery. Korea has dominated the sport, winning
01:3327 golds since 1972. But Paglis isn't deterred by the competition.
01:39The goal is to win. At the end of the day, it's all about getting in there and doing
01:44the best I can and shooting every arrow like it's the most important thing.