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Leeds archer's Olympic aim
A Leeds archer is about to show that a Yorkshireman can go to Robin Hood's home city to show them how it is done.
And the bow-toting champ is aiming for an Olympic bullseye after climbing the ladder to be named Europe's number one.
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Leeds-born Matt Arnold, 20, recently started up an archery club at Nottingham Trent University off the back of a three-year competition run that saw him scoop silver medals at the World Junior Outdoors Championships in 2006, and European Junior Grand Prix in 2007.
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He also won a gold at the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUSC) championships in Sheffield last March – all of which has left the student ranked as Europe's number one junior bowman.
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So it was hardly surprising that a group of student merry men and women were so keen to get involved in the sport.
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The sports science and management student said: "Unfortunately there wasn't a club last year, but a few friends of mine who shoot at the University of Nottingham mentioned that there was a club a few years ago, which ended before I joined Nottingham Trent.
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"I thought it might be a good idea to raise the profile of the sport at the university, so I started one up.
"We have about 12 members so far, but we've had a lot of interest and the club is steadily growing."
After a meteoric rise up the rankings and a string of tournament successes, Matt now has a number of upcoming competitions firmly in his sights – including taking a shot at the 2012 Olympics, where archery will take place at the Woolwich Military Barracks.
He said: "I'm aiming to qualify for the World Junior Games in China this year. Hopefully I'll be able to win the outdoor and indoor title if all goes well.
"Unfortunately I didn't qualify for this year's Commonwealth Games due to equipment problems. I'll definitely be in a lot better position for the next games, though.
"I've really undertaken some intense training this winter, so hopefully I should see the fruits of that in the near future."
Next week Matt will be targeting a gold at the BUCS Championships in Sheffield, where 6,000 student athletes will take part in five days of competition across 26 sports.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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