So World Archery have an article up on the "dynamic" Dutchman Sjef Van Den Berg, who recently finished 4th at the Olympics. And according to him, it "still sucks". After all the person finishing fourth has the dubious honour of being the only one in the field to have lost _two _matches, and the two biggest ones at that.
After the weekends National Series Grand Finals I feel his pain somewhat. Obviously it's not quite on the same scale as Rio but having stormed pole position in the series with stage wins at the last two legs; its fair to say I thought I had a fair crack at a medal. After all in this format all that's needed is to win the first round match (not so bad) and then win one of the next two.
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The crowd is about to go wild... Photo by Malcolm Rees[/caption]
As it turned out, I came up against some pretty hot competition in both the semi finals and the finals and never quite produced the goods in those matches. 48 hours later and I still can't tell how I feel about the overall result. On the one hand, compared to my goal at the start of the season (which was just to make the finals), I exceeded expectations. On the other, I know I could have performed better in those last two matches and am disappointed not to have given it my best shot (literally). It is exactly the kind of good yet bad outcome that is perfect for fueling the fire of future training.
I've decided not to worry about it too much. The event ran smoothly, the crowd were enjoying it, and the experience of a finals field match was invaluable. This caps off a long outdoor season and as the nights draw in I feel very much ready to stop scoring and start working on technique and fitness. Perhaps I was ready a couple of weeks ago!
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Focusing on the bit that matters. Photos by Malcolm Rees[/caption]