8 June 2010 - Stephen CLIFTON (NZL): “My medal has brought extra funding for our travels”

Stephen CLIFTON (NZL): “My medal has brought extra funding for our travels” Antalya (TUR) – 8 June 2010   Stephen CLIFTON (NZL) was a Bronze medallist at the 2009 World Championships in Ulsan. We met this talented young archer in Antalya where he is competing at the World Cup Stage 2.  You won New Zealand’s very first world medal last year in Ulsan. What does this medal mean to you? I won the bronze medal at the 2004 Junior World Championships at Lilleshall (GBR) but my bronze in Ulsan was my first senior medal. It was a dream come true to win a World Championships medal. I put on a lot of hard work in the last years, I was very happy that I came away with a medal, especially at the World Championships. It feels really good.   What was the impact of your medal from archery in your country? There has been a lot of media coverage and I think this publicity has attracted a lot of attention. Because of my bronze medal at Ulsan and our team gold medal at the 2009 World Cup Stage 4 in Shanghai, we have had some extra funding for this year. We’ve been given money to travel to international events, whereas before we were all self-funded.   What is the situation of archery in New Zealand? Archery is very small in New Zealand. Out of a population of 4 million there are maybe only 4000 registered target archers. So yes, archery is very, very small, and it is not offered in many schools.   So, how did you discover the sport? One of my uncles was into hunting and I started archery hunting with him when I was 10. I then moved onto target archery. My father also used to shoot, he has helped me out a lot with my training.   How do you train? I train 6 days a week, 4 hours a day. Also, I do meet with a sports psychologist and I keep myself in shape. I have a part-time job in a security company. My family owns the company, so I get as much time off as I need to train and travel.   How did you train for the Compound Round and the new Hit/Miss target? We bought some Hit/Miss targets and they arrived after the World Cup stage 1 in Croatia. I’ve just been shooting a lot of arrows at this target in order to try and be more familiar with this new competition format. I think it is a good change for the sport. If we can get compound into the Olympics, that would be great. Sometimes changes are good for the sport.   What do you like best about archery? The competition and the travelling. It’s a great opportunity to meet new people and make friends from other countries.   What are your plans and objectives for the future? This year we are travelling to four World Cup events as a build-up for the Commonwealth Games, and next year maybe we’ll do one or two World Cup stages and the World Championships. This year, I would really like to make the World Cup Final and medal at the Commonwealth Games. I think the competition this year, is a lot harder than last year, which was already hard. The general level has definitely raised. I’m looking forward to shooting as many World Cups as I can and having fun!   Vanahé ANTILLE World Archery Communication