Last updated at 10:46, Thursday, 11 September 2008

ALAN Wills admits he is suffering from some “post-Olympic blues”. As Cumbria’s only representative at last month’s sporting extravaganza in Beijing, archer Alan is back home, back to work and back down to earth after his travails in the Far East.

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“I don’t know what to do with myself at the moment,” laughs Alan, 27. “I spent four years training for the Olympics, being completely focused on achieving what I set out to do. While I was there – first in Macau, which was our pre-Games base, and when we were at the Olympic Village itself – my mind was so set on competing, trying to block everything else out with no distractions. But now I’m home, just ticking over, and back to reality, the post-Olympic blues have set in. After being away for such a long time, it’s about re-adjusting back into a normal life.”

And although Alan, of Murton Park, Arlecdon, might not have come home with a medal around his neck, he does have the cherished memories of what he describes as “the best experience of my life”.

“Words can’t really explain what it was like to be there,” he recalls of his first Olympic Games. “Everything about the whole experience was a dream come true and it made all the work it took to get there worthwhile.

“As part of Team GB, we were treated so well. They really looked after us. We had a flat in the Olympic Village which was shared by us six members of the archery team, which was good in terms of team spirit. The food, hotel, facilities, everything was top notch and we wanted for absolutely nothing.

“While I was competing, I kept my head down, really. The way I saw it, I wasn’t there on holiday but I was there for a purpose; to do a job.”

Alan began competition on the second day of the Games, which meant he wasn’t involved in the spectacular opening ceremony at the now iconic Bird’s Nest Stadium.

“I saw a bit of it and some of the competition on the television but I was really just in game-mode and didn’t want to take the focus off what I was there to do.”

And that was to do his utmost to add to his country’s burgeoning medal haul.

The team event was up first, with Alan standing alongside his team-mates and good friends, Simon Terry and Laurence Godfrey.

Alan began his part of the team competition well and ended in 21st place with his best score of the season so far. However, Alan & Co went on to lose in the first elimination round to the hosts and eventual winners China, by 214 to 210.

“It was the first time we had been beaten by China,” says Alan. “It was a disappointing finish, but the team has not shot together too many times this year and, after a good year last year, there was a lot of expectation on us. It was a good opportunity for us but it’s a fine line between hitting the gold and slipping into the red.”

With the attention now switched to the singles competition, Alan beat Italian Mauro Nespoli in the opening elimination round, before being drawn to play reigning Olympic champion Marco Galliazo in round two.

“I wasn’t intimidated playing against Marco. I saw it as a good opportunity,” recalls Alan, who used this positive attitude to defeat his Italian opponent with 10 points from his final arrow to win by a single point.

“It was a brilliant feeling to win this one and he told me that I had better go on and win the tournament now. And, to be honest, I thought I could have gone all the way after the win over Marco.”

But that’s where Alan’s Olympic dream ended as he was knocked out by Cuban Juan Carlos Stevens (108-104) in the last 16.

“I do think I could have gone further. I think I am a stronger archer than Stevens and had all been well I might have beaten him, and I would have then gone on to meet the Korean in the semi-final who I had done well against in the past.

“I would have loved to have had the match again and I think the outcome might have been different. But it wasn’t to be.”

Alan’s elimination was then marred in some controversy as he openly criticised his team’s head coach, Peter Suk, in an interview with the BBC.

At the time, Alan said: “The way our coach works, he is trying to subdue you sometimes. I feel like my personality is being squashed down and hidden away. I need to get a bit aggressive and get pumped up. When I do that, I can shoot 10s.”

Having had the chance to cool down, Alan regrets the way he handled the situation but does stand by his criticism of Suk.

“I’ve never reacted like that before,” he says. “With hindsight, I would do things differently.

“ I’m normally a good loser, but I was cheesed off with my performance and then went straight into interviews and sometimes you say stuff in the heat of the moment which you otherwise wouldn’t. I meant what I said in that I wasn‘t in control of what was going on around me, but it came out in the wrong way.”

With the competition over and the pressure off, Alan was able to sit back and enjoy Beijing and the rest of the Games, which proved to be the most successful medal haul for Team GB for a century.

“I’d been to Beijing before so I’d done all the touristy things like the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square so I didn’t do any real sightseeing or anything like that.

“I just chilled out and got to see my mam and dad, Lesley and Glenn, who had flown out for the Games.”

Lesley Wills was only cleared to fly at the last minute after suffering a heart attack in June. Alan’s girlfriend, Rachel Jolly, who is a nurse at the West Cumberland Hospital, stayed at home and followed his progress on the internet and television.

“I didn’t see a great deal of my parents while I was competing but I was glad of their support. After I finished competing, I was able to go and watch some of the other sports like the gymnastics finals and the track events, which were good to see.”

But now he’s home, Alan isn’t one to rest on his laurels. He is to receive a welcome home ceremony from Copeland mayor Keith Hitchen on Thursday next week, and on October 16 he and the rest of Team GB are off to Buckingham Palace at the Queen’s invitation.

Next up on the sporting side is a return to field archery and qualifying for the World Games next year, also to be held in the Far East in Chinese Taipei.

But he does have an eye on the 2012 Games in London.

“I’m 95 per cent sure I’ll be up for 2012. I’ve been playing well for three years now and I’m shooting better than ever before.

“But I think things have to change in order for not just me, but any potential archers, to achieve success in the future.”

Before the Olympics, Alan trained at Sellafield three times a week but this facility is no longer available.

“It would be brilliant to have the facilities in this area. I’m okay because I can move away if the training facilities are not right here. But many people, especially the young ones, can’t so it’s a worry that potentially good local archers will be lost to the sport because of a lack of facilities and that would be a shame.”

First published at 16:05, Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk