18 September 2010 - Alan WILLS (GBR): "Definitely, there's more inspiration right here!"

Alan WILLS (GBR): "Definitely, there's more inspiration right here!" Edinburgh – 18 September 2010   Alan WILLS (GBR), 29 years old, is quite a character in the archery world. He is one of the few competitors who can combine shooting target archery and field archery at a high level in international competition.  After being 2nd at the 2005 World Games (field archery) in Germany, he became field world champion earlier this summer in Hungary. He was handed a GB wildcard for this event in Edinburgh which is his second World Cup Final after Dubai 2007 (3rd place).   What is the difference when you shoot in front of your home crowd? This is the second time I have shot in front of my home crowd. It's so exciting. It's like the Olympics in China. In Beijing all the fans just stand behind you, cheering you on. I think it sometimes makes you a little bit nervous but it's always nice to have that.   Does it mean more pressure or more inspiration? Definitely, there's more inspiration right here. Home is always better, you know. It's a lot better environment for me. You also know that you will get too nervous in those kinds of surrounding but we all know that for this game, you've got to be steady and strong. Obviously if you get your home crowd behind you it helps your game a lot.   Speaking of the Beijing Olympics, how did you find your first Olympic experience? It is the best thing in my life. There was lots of hard work, lots of wins needed to get there and if I had the opportunity to do it over again I would have done few things slightly differently but it was an amazing experience.   What would those few things be? When I trained for the Olympics at first, no one told me what it would take or what it would be like. Before the match, when I found myself in a position of competing with an Italian, a Ukrainian and a Cuban, I told myself I can do it. Then, the first match was with the Cuban. It was the first time in my career I didn't find myself in full control. In that atmosphere with so much screaming and shouting going on, I was affected a bit too much. The coach who has always taught me to do the right thing at the right time, told me to forget about everything and just enjoy the game, so I came back to normal for the last three arrows. I should have done that from the start but it's all over now. You can't get things back that you've already lost.   Could we take that as the best memory in your pro career so far? I would give my vote to another personal experience years ago in the world field championship. I had been ill at that time, took lots of medication, stopped everything, but the next day, I won. There was a lot of emotion, crying and shouting that day and that was brilliant experience. Another thing, in Leipzig in the last six days I shot British record, propelling me into the Olympic Games. There have been many good things over the last few years.   How did you get through your difficult times before the field world championships this year? After the Olympics my life took big big downturn. I split with my fiancée, lost the house and my old grandparents. It's like everything happened together but these things made me stronger.   So, the last world championships are they the signs of bouncing back? That was just pure determination. I went there and said to my friends and families that this is my last world champs and I will bring the gold back. The qualification was not that good but in the elimination round I just came and took it.   HUANG Xing Xing World Archery Communication