Nerve, skill and superhuman accuracy. Meet the archers.

GB star Amy Oliver in action at Lord's

So where were you when Team GB won their first gold of London 2012? Well, while Helen Glover and Heather Stanning were covering themselves in glory by finishing first in the women's pair at Eton Dorney, I was sat at the legendary Lord's Cricket Ground. Yet despite the rain coming in dribs and drabs the action didn't stop as the sport gracing the turf was not cricket, but archery.This is the beauty of the Olympics, for every Usain Bolt, Jessica Ennis and Neymar involved, there are stars from more obscure sports, usually kept far from the public eye, who can compete for their nation's glory. At Lord's, temporary stands have been erected to seat 6,500 spectators and, despite a few empty seats, it made for a vibrant atmosphere with plenty of cheers for competitors from all nations. A unique experience, I must say that there were several aspects of the sport which were unique when compared to other live sport events I have attended in the past.

You wouldn't normally see this at Lord's Cricket Ground

One of the most over-riding differences was the fact a pair of commentators, including a particularly grating American, could be heard over the whole arena. This meant the bowmen could hear every word they said and it is hardly ideal for athletes trying to focus on their performance when they hear things like 'there is some wind out there, but not enough to be held accountable for that' after one poorly aimed effort. Despite being sometimes irritating, the commentary did add to the overall experience and made sure everyone knew who was who and what was going on. A variety of pop and rock music songs were also played over the speaker system at every plausible opportunity, and while it kept the mood upbeat it could also be listed under the irksome category. But the format of competition was good, with two matches in the men's individual 1/32 (last 64) round followed by two in the women's individuals before the winners went head-to-head in the 1/16 immediately after. This meant the winning bowmen played twice in fairly quick succession, allowing the crowd to get behind them in their efforts.

A spectator tries her hand at Archery before the Olympians begin

On the field of play, there was plenty of action as reigning champion from Beijing 2008, Viktor Ruban stormed through to the last 16 round which takes place prior to the quarter-finals,semi-finals and final on Friday. The Ukrainian edged past China's Zhaowu Liu before obliterating Chen Yu-Cheng of Chinese Taipei, who himself had impressed in the first round.  The other danger man competing in the men's half of the competition this morning appeared to be South Korea's Oh Jin Hyek who left the Swiss Axel Muller for dead in the first round before beating the impressive Mexican Luis Alvarez in round two. Meanwhile, the biggest cheers of the day came in the women's first round where Amy Oliver, Great Britain's representative and a fan of felines judging by one of the albums on her official website, defeated world number one Deepika Kumari, from India. Despite shooting a 4 on one round, the lowest individual score of the morning session, Oliver hit plenty of 10s to claim a 6-2 victory over the young Indian who was just 16 when she claimed two commonwealth gold medals in 2010. Disappointingly, the British ecstasy was almost immediately ended as minutes later Oliver crashed out 7-1 at the hands of the incredibly accurate Indonesian archer Ika Yuliana Rochmawati in the 1/16 round.

London 2012 might not be run by a dictatorship, but they can still tell you what to do

Archery has it's fair share of intriguing characters, including the Georgian born American Khatuna Lorig. Lorig  represented the Soviet Union and won bronze as far back as the 1992 Barcelona Olympics but after going on to represent Georgia took US citizenship and represented the States from the 2008 Games. The 38-year-old taught Jennifer Lawrence her archery techniques ahead of the actor's role in the recent blockbuster 'The Hunger Games' and she provided a suitably Hollywood finish in her 1/16 match with Denmark's Louise Laursen. Laursen, who had earlier defeated another character in red-haired, facially-pierced Canadian Marie-Pier Beaudet, held Lorig right to the end of the fifth set and was seconds away from the match going to a single-arrow shoot off. However, the Georgian-American called on all her experience and, needing a 10 to clinch the game, pulled one out of the bag in style to progress to the next round with the last shot of the morning session. While the rowers' gold and Bradley Wiggins fantastic time trial success will be plastered all over the news tonight and tomorrow, the archer's results may fly somewhat under the radar. However, with their displays of nerve, skill and superhuman accuracy, these bowmen are undoubtedly true Olympians, and deserve the respect and adulation that all the other athletes at this thirtieth Olympiad will receive.


The Olympics go on, and so does The Search for Excellence. With Great Britain off the mark, James will be focusing on one particular British team tomorrow, so return for that on Thursday evening! And don't forget to follow on Twitter @tsfe2012


Again, all photographs by James Phillips himself.