INTERVIEW: Hazel Chaisty
Hazel Chaisty, 49, shot in the individual and mixed team recurve open competition for Great Britain at Tokyo 2020. She took up archery seven years ago after losing her leg in a motorbike accident. Fresh from a 28-hour journey home from Japan, she took a moment to speak to Bow about her experience.
How long were you out there?
We set off on 12 August and stayed at Keio University. They really welcomed us. The Japanese were very worried about our safety. But everyone was so polite. What an incredible nation, everything's clean – even the garbage trucks are clean. Everyone was so kind.
For recurves, there was a big gap [after the ranking round was completed]. We had a week before we did anything. We just watched the compounds do their thing. So we had a long wait until we started, but we could practise every day, to which we took full advantage. I read quite a bit and listen to audio books. I took knitting with me. My new grandchild was born the day I set off, so I took some knitting and made a blanket for her and a patchwork quilt. By the time Dave [Phillips] and I got round to shooting the bad weather returned, but we were prepared: in the UK we’d practised in heat and humidity chambers to try and shoot and just get a feel of how it could be over there. And we'd shot in the rain at Keio University.
So it was good old British weather, but there was a bit of a curveball. We practised on one field – the ranking field – then you move across into the arena, which during the day your sight marks were exactly the same. However, in the evening, you were almost practising in the dark. Then you turn it up in this arena that was floodlit and where your string picture changed drastically. It was about who could get a handle on that quickly.
You came sixth in the individual?
I’m quite quite proud of where I came, getting through to the quarter-finals, which wasn’t