22-year-old Australian archer Laura Paeglis set to make Olympics debut

ABC NEWS (Australia)

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.

Transcript

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.

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