The British Olympic Association is pleased to announce that the following archers have been selected to represent Team GB at the forthcoming Olympic Games in Sydney.

Simon Needham
Men’s Individual
Age: 40.

Simon lives in Montrose, Scotland and is a Colour Sergeant in the Royal Marines. Simon first started shooting at the age of 8 at Mount House School, Tavistock, Devon. He carried on shooting with the Boy Scouts. Up until 1988 he shot as a club archer. In 1988 joined ‘Links Archers’ and started going to competitions. He became number one in Scotland in 1995. He was invited to shoot for Great Britain for the first time in 1998. Currently number 40 in the world. Simon holds the British record for the FITA with a score of 1325.

Alison Williamson
Women’s Individual
Age: 28.

Alison lives in Church Stretton, Shropshire Alison picked up her first bow when she was 7-years-old. In 1986 she represented the GB Junior Team, and in 1988 aged only 16 she made her senior GB team debut. Alison is currently ranked number three in the world after a number of successful results at world ranking tournaments earlier this year. In 1999, Alison won the silver medal at the World Championships in Riom, France. Sydney will be Alison’s third Olympics – she placed 8th in Barcelona, and 10th in Atlanta.

Vladlena Priestman
Women’s Individual
Age: 32.

Vladlena is originally from Sumy, Ukraine and now lives in Hesketh Bank, Preston, Lancashire. Married with two children Vladlena is a teacher of Russian. From 1985-1991 she was a member of the USSR National Archery team. Then, from 1993-1995 she was in the Ukrainian National team. Having married a Briton, she has been competing for the GB Archery team since 1998. Vladlena won Silver at the1998 European Championships and was sixth at the European Championships in 2000.

Simon Clegg, Team GB’s Chef de Mission for the Olympic Games, said: ‘I am delighted to welcome these archers into Team GB. International form over the past few years suggests there is some world class talent in this squad and we wish the archers well as they make their final preparations prior to the Sydney Games.’

For more information contact Philip Pope (ext. 233) or Becki Middleton (ext. 215) in the BOA Press Office on 020 8871 2677.

Source: BOA