Milne drawn to independence of archery

The sole Australian para archer in Rio, Jonathon Milne, enjoyed being able to practise on his own, and not depend on someone else to throw back a ball.

That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t enjoy some company, though.

“I’m really trying to get more people into it,” Milne said. “I don’t think they realise what a rewarding sport archery is.”

Milne is the first Australian to qualify for archery at the Paralympics since Athens 2004. He competes in the compound open division in Rio.

Milne clipped his head on a sandbar during a surfing accident in 2012 and injured his spinal cord.

A life-long athlete, Milne had played soccer, tennis and was a surfer and a swimmer before the accident. He knew that he needed to find something to keep himself busy.

“After a long day at therapy, archery was something that I could do by myself,” Milne said. “I could go shoot at a target and focus all my energies on that.”

He said that paraplegics gravitate towards sports like basketball, tennis and rugby in Australia.

“I liked playing tennis before my accident, but when I tried it I was not very good. It is too different of a game,” Milne said. “And I was 6'1" before the chair and I didn’t play basketball standing up, so I’m not going to play basketball now.”

In a country with only approximately 40 registered para archers, Milne mainly participates in able-bodied competitions.

“The other guys, they are able to compete against each other and have that experience,” Milne said. “Me, at least I’m still competing with people at a high level, so I can be ready for competition.”

Milne began archery in 2013 and made his international debut in 2015.

He knew he had talent, but was not positive about how he compared until the 2015 World Archery Para Championships in Donaueschingen, Germany. Milne finished fourth after a bronze-medal match against Great Britain’s John Stubbs in the compound men’s open competition.

Milne is not able to travel to many international events due to the distance from Australia and a lack of funding.

He hopes that a medal in the Paralympics can change that, or that archery may gain more attention after the Australian men’s team won the country’s first Olympic team medal earlier in Rio.

Milne said the competitions in Australia and internationally are very similar, but that the grass pitches in Australia are very uneven making it hard to shoot. He has to carry wedges with him to even out his chair.

“It’s definitely a relief to not have to do that here,” Milne said with a laugh.

Milne enjoys the solace he finds in archery and tries to put that over competition.

“I go out and shoot because I enjoy doing it,” Milne said. “I enjoy the sport and if I change why I‘m doing it then it won’t be fun anymore and it won’t be worth it.”

The para archery competition at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games runs 10-17 September in the Sambodromo.