CAVANAGH: "A great opportunity to show what we can do"

Paralympic Champion in Athens 2004, John CAVANAGH has had a long para archery career. He was hoping for another Olympic final “at home”, but despite falling short, he thoroughly enjoyed these Games. He wants to keep being involved in the sport and share his experience at the IPC Athletes’ Council. CAVANAGH is a neuro-scientist. To some extent he found himself on the other side of his profession when he fell down a cliff in the Swiss Alps back in 1989. A spinal cord injury sent him to the famous hospital at Stoke Mandeville. Like the soldiers in 1948, he picked up a bow to help his rehabilitation, and despite trying other sports, he stuck to archery. The sport is good for the body, the mind and it allows flexible training time. At the same time as working for a charity foundation “Spinal Research”, on the scientific side, he became better and better at archery. He joined the British national team, went to the European championships before participating in every world championships since they started in 1998 in the compound men W1 (wheelchair) category. That is eight world championships! He won an individual silver medal in 2001. He also participated in four Paralympic Games and won it in 2004! Since then, he has been a full-time archery athlete funded by UK sports at the Lilleshall Training Centre. He was close to repeat as Paralympic champion, winning silver in Beijing 2008. We caught up with him at the end of the individual competitions at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. He said he still 17 years old in his mind, but he his definitely a much wiser guy. Hello John! Are you enjoying these Paralympic Games on home soil? It has been a fabulous week! The weather has been kind, the crowds sensational and the volunteers brilliant! Win or lose you enjoy such a show! And today two wonderful young ladies (Danielle BROWN and Mel CLARKE) won gold and silver for Great Britain. We do enjoy these moments. Were you expecting such an organisational success? To be honest I didn’t know what to expect. When we came for the Test Event in May, everything was different. It was the same place, but the stadium and the entire infrastructure around it were not built. Moreover we had a cold week. This stadium, that was built for rifle shooting in the Olympic Games and where a British athlete won the double trap by the way, has been very good for the archery competition. For me, it exceeded what I envisioned back in 2005 when London won the bid for the Games. It was good to settle here at the Royal Artillery Barracks after there had been some uncertainty on where the archery competition would be held. From a competition point of view, how was your week? We had the only very cold and rainy day during the Ranking Round and despite being British I am not fan of such weather. It was tough and I definitely lost a few more points than I should have along the way. And when you are a few points down, it is hard to come back. So I finished the Ranking Round in 7th place. Then I won my first round match against Jerry SHIELD (USA) and that set a quarterfinal meeting with my good old friend Jeff FABRY, another American. Actually that match came too early for me. I was hoping to meet Jeff in the semifinals, because I beat him at this stage in Athens and Beijing. I was hoping to be three times lucky (laughs!). Anyway, Jeff shot very well in this quarterfinal match as he did for the remaining of the competition. He won a well-deserved Paralympic gold medal! So you were left cheering for your teammates? I definitely stick around to watch such archery competitions. The Paralympic Games are almost a unique chance for us to be on the big stage with a final field, spectators and television! It is a great opportunity to show what we can do! Moreover a lot of the volunteers are archers. I see them regularly in local or national tournaments, but I am glad that they could see these great competitions and some fantastic para archers. It is also good that these people see a World Archery style of competition like there are at the World Cup or world championships. You also have been busy as candidate for the IPC Athletes Council? Very much so. I have been campaigning, putting up posters and meeting athletes at the Paralympic Village. I have been around a long time and I have worked in committees at Archery GB. I have been put forward as the British candidate across all sports for this election. I would very much like to share my experience and continue the archery representation at the IPC Athletes’ Council. So far, we have had Marketa SIDKOVA (CZE) who also competed in London. We have also Gizem GIRISMEN (TUR) as candidate so I really hope one or the two of us (since there is no limitation per sport) make it. What would be your priorities if you were elected? I would like to make sure the Paralympic Games remain athletes focused. We need to keep a system of classification across all sports that enhances participation while keeping a fair, level playing field. I would also hope to facilitate the collaboration between the more experienced countries, or sports, in para sports with the less experienced ones. It is good that we have 164 countries in London but I would love to have even more participation. More disabled people need to have the chance to get here. A very good program indeed. And sport wise, how do you see your future? I have not made up my mind yet, but going to Rio is tempting! Best of luck then! Thank you! World Archery Communication