From William the Conqueror to William Tell, via Sherwood Forest and a few war-whooping twangs from Geronimo, bows and arrows have been among man's most prolific pursuits. Yet the long-established sport of archery is not one that has had the great British public all of a quiver, despite its Robin Hood romanticism.

It's among the most ancient of all Britain's sporting activities, dating back competitively to the middle ages with the first Grand National Archery meeting held at York in 1844. Many of today's clubs had their beginnings on the country lawns of Victorian England, although archery did not make the Olympics in its modern form until 1972.

The modicum of publicity it has received here in recent years is largely down to the lively Shropshire lass Alison Williamson, five times an Olympian and a bronze medallist in Athens, but about the only time archery got the tabloid treatment was when she took her top off in 1996, posing semi-naked with a strategically-placed bow and arrow for photos that were displayed in the National Portrait Gallery.

All tastefully done, but there was a sharp intake of breath from the blazers and blazerettes.

Williamson and other top archers among the 35,000 so practitioners who belong to the Grand National Archery Society are resigned to scant recognition for their endeavours, which have included fistfuls of medals at world, European and Commonwealth level. But Olympic gold has proved irksomely elusive.


Could that change in London, where the focus is likely to be on 40-year-old Williamson and a new kid on what is the shooting line? The sport's equivalent of the oche: Amy Oliver, from Rotherham, is 17 years Williamson's junior and on course to make her Olympic debut.

If Williamson does get selected it will be a remarkable achievement for only two other Britons have competed at six Olympics – the javelin thrower Tessa Sanderson, who won gold at her third Games in 1984, and fencer Bill Hoskyns, who competed from 1956 to 1976 at the Games, winning two silver medals.

So is there a more creditable candidate to carry the GB flag at the Opening Ceremony?

It would be an immensely proud moment for Britain's highest-profile archer, a one-time primary school teacher who had to give up a lot for the sport she took up well before the luxury of lottery funding was a twinkle in John Major's eye.

But as she says: "If I had done something else, I would have ended up scratching my head and saying to myself, 'What am I doing, I could have been at the Olympics.'


Williamson (pictured) established herself as one of Britain's all-time best performers in a career which has seen her claim individual world silver in 1999 and Olympic bronze in 2004, as well as a world team bronze in 2007 and – very nearly – an Olympic team bronze at the Beijing Games, where she and her two fellow shooters were beaten in the third and fourth place match by France.

"Since I started, the standard has certainly risen. It's certainly more athletic and the level of professionalism is higher. The image is different too, I am sure some people used to think of it as glorified darts. Internationally we have showcase venues and there is a World Cup circuit. We are quite used to shooting now in iconic venues so we are delighted to be at Lord's.

"With some sports, the older you get the more difficult it becomes, but that's not so with archery. When I look back on the '92 Olympics, when you walked into the cafeteria in the village, you'd look around and you wouldn't be able to spot an archer because no one knew who they were, but it's a lot different now.

"We are more recognisable. It's more open competitively, too. You used to say that the Koreans would always win a medal, but none of them were on the podium in the world championships women's event. A Chilean won.

"Now I am lottery funded and I am grateful for that. And as for 2016, well, never say never. There are archers older than me, and Rio sounds quite nice."

What motivates her now is the memory of competitions such as that she experienced last April, when she won gold in the final of the European grand prix in Antalya, Turkey against Italy's multiple world champion Natalia Valeeva, who at 41 is aiming to add her first Olympic gold to the CV next year – and who is also making out at least as good a case as Williamson that archers can have a career almost with the longevity of their namesake radio serial.

"I think it's always been that way in archery," says Williamson. "If you are good when you are young you can still carry it on. Experience counts for a lot in this sport. I react very differently now to the way I did when I was 18 or 20. If you haven't had a good competition when you are that age you react in a different way. Nowadays I am able to see the bigger picture.

"Sometimes you think 'Oh God, you are getting too old for this.' But after competitions like the one I had with Natalia, you realise 'No. I can still do it'."


Williamson's biggest fan also happens to be her newest rival, the 23-year-old Oliver (pictured left) who a bronze medal in mixed team tournament with Larry Godfrey at the recent World Archery Championships in Turin and with Williamson (right) and Naiomi Folkard (centre) won an Commonwealth Games team silver in Delhi. She has established herself as a regular in the women's recurve team and, like Williamson, comes from an archery family.

Oliver had her first archery lesson at seven. "But I didn't really like it because it was kind of like a boys' sport," she said. "I liked ballet and stuff like that. When I was 16 I decided to try it again and I got the bug."

Of course, there are more than two strings to Britain's bow.

"There are three places available in both men's and women's teams and several contenders for each," Oliver explains.  "If I shoot the way I have been, it won't be a problem but it could be tough because everyone else is shooting so well," she says.

"Alison is an inspiration for me, even training with her is fantastic. She has so much experience and listening to her stories helps me with my own competitions. She is so generous with her knowledge and she has this loud, infectious laugh.

"When she won her Olympic medal I didn't actually watch because I was five, and too busy with my majorettes and things like that, but being one of her competitors now is just incredible. You can't imagine the respect I have for her. When I watch her shoot she is so calm and confident and focused and that's what I'm striving for. That's such a big thing in archery. If you look nervous, then opponents think they have one up on you. Alison always looks like she is ready. She is a true legend.

"I want to be like Alison Williamson and I hope that one day someone else is going to be looking at me saying, 'I want to be like Amy Oliver.'


"Not many people actually follow archery but the fact that it is taking place at Lord's will give it a much higher profile and when they do watch it, I hope they will say, 'wow, look how exciting it is. Look at those arrows fly. See how far the targets are away'."

Does she get fed up with all the inevitable allusions to Robin Hood and William Tell?

"Yes, people quite often ask me if I am related to Maid Marian or if I could shoot an apple off their head. I get a lot of jokes about it."

"Ours is a healthy rivalry," adds Williamson, who says they are hopeful of a team medal. "Seeing Amy's energy helps motivate me but I'm not going to be pushed out just yet!"


The good news is that Britain is assembling a quiver full of potentially world-class archers in both recurve (the Olympic discipline) and compound, which this time is in the Paralympics. The difference is in the type of bow.

These days bows are hi-tech and made of aluminium or carbon fibre with stabilisers, sights, an arrow rest and grips, and can cost upwards of £1,000 (€1,193/$1,570).

At Lord's competitors will fire from the pavilion end at target about the length of three cricket pitches away. Their main worry will be the wind which, says Williamson, can makes things very tricky.

She also makes one plea to first-time spectators: Quiet please!

"In Delhi many of the crowd probably had never seen the sport before and some people were making a noise when archers were shooting, which is a bit like shouting when tennis players are serving."

Obviously you can't guarantee silence at an event, but at Lord's it may well be golden.

The layman may call the tiny circle the size of a 50p piece in the target the bull's-eye, but to the archer it is the gold. And that's precisely what sorcerer Alison and apprentice Amy have in their sights. Geronimo!

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning sports columnist for The Independent on Sunday, and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Olympics, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world titles from Atlanta to Zaire.