Tokyo 2020: James Woodgate warned by team-mate Patrick Huston he is yet to prove himself on archery's big stage
BySportsbeat
Published 21/05/2021 at 10:43 GMT
Huston says his 18-year-old fellow archer has the potential to claim Team GB a medal in Japan, but has delivered a message to Woodgate saying "it still comes down to those little moments where you think: are you in absolute control of your mind". Huston admits his team-mate is helping to raise the standard of the team.
Team GB archer James Woodgate has been tipped for success
Image credit: Getty Images
Tokyo-bound archery ace James Woodgate has been warned he's still yet to prove himself on the international stage.
But the precocious Shepperton star has the potential to medal this summer and is propelling Team GB's prospects to even greater heights.
That's the message from teammate and 2016 Olympian Patrick Huston, who forms part of the three-pronged men's outfit descending on Japan along with debutants Woodgate, 18, and Tom Hall.
Woodgate was never in contention to qualify for the Games last summer but the one-year postponement was a shot in the arm to his ambitions.
He's been impressing his teammates in practice but Huston, a World Championship, European Championship and European Games medallist, insists he's got a long way still to go if he's to rise to the Tokyo challenge.
The 25-year-old, one of over 1,000 National Lottery-funded elite athletes on UK Sport's World Class Programme along with Woodgate, said: "He's got tremendous scoring power and in terms of firepower on the team, he's a fantastic asset to have.
"But he is unproven on the international stage. He's done a few events internationally as a junior but nothing as a senior, and I don't think he's brought back any medals.
"At that point in my career, I already had three World Championship gold medals, a pile of European medals and various other things as well.
"He's got this amazing upward potential, but the standard in the world has just been going up for the past decade.
"He's already proven himself at British level but when it comes down to the international scene, when you've got the knockout head-to-heads, it really comes down to that absolute fortitude of mind.
"He's definitely got the standard, and I believe he's got the balls to bring it, but it still comes down to those little moments where you think: are you in absolute control of your mind?"
UK Sport's National Lottery-funded World Class Programme has powered Woodgate's burgeoning career and allows him to train full-time, access the world's best coaches and benefit from pioneering technology, science and medical support.
He only finished studying at Halliford School last year but after a gruelling 12 months of training following Tokyo postponement, his unlikely Olympic dream was alive and kicking.
Woodgate competed at the World Youth Championship in 2019 and is currently gearing up for Tokyo at World Cup events in Guatemala, Switzerland and France.
Huston has been taken aback by his relentless scoring power and reckons the levels he's setting are catalysing Team GB's pursuit of archery glory.
Huston, who - with Woodgate - is hoping to add to the 864 Olympic and Paralympic medals won by Great Britain and Northern Ireland athletes since the advent of National Lottery funding in 1997, added: "He's shooting a fantastic standard and I'm excited to see where he goes.
"Individually, I don't have a marker for him but in terms of what the three of us are able to do as a team, we've now got James pushing the standard and our consistency up.
"As a group, we're pushing the boundaries higher and higher. I think we'll be seeing quite a few medals coming back for the whole British team. Having James there definitely sharpens us up and adds a bit of spice to the mix.
"When I'm standing there in practice, the middle gets filled up for James so consistently - and I don't want to be miles off him.
"There's an expectation and a sense of personal pride that I have to be doing that standard. I'm a two-time Olympian now and have got a decade of international performance, and I'm not having this youngster beating me!"
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