| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Naomi Anne Folkard |
| Nationality | British |
| Born | 18 September 1983 (1983-09-18) (age 42) Leamington Spa,Warwickshire, England, UK |
| Education | University of Birmingham |
| Sport | |
| Country |  Great Britain |
| Sport | Archery |
Events | |
Medal record | |
| Updated on 23 June 2019 | |
Naomi Anne Folkard (born 18 September 1983) is aBritisharcher who has representedGreat Britain at theOlympic Games five times between 2004 and 2020. She has also represented Great Britain at theWorld Archery Championships and theArchery World Cup, and England at theCommonwealth Games.
Following a string of national titles in the early 2000s, Folkard won selection for the British Olympic archery team in2004. She has since regularly competed in internationalrecurve archery events and later participated in the2008,2012, and2016 and2020 Summer Olympics. She is also a prominent competitor infield archery, having won medals at theWorld Games and the World Field Archery Championships.
Naomi Folkard was born on 18 September 1983 inLeamington Spa,Warwickshire.[1] She was introduced to archery at the age of five, first trying out the sport at a family scout camp. At twelve years old she was a member of the British junior team[1] and progressed to the British senior team at the age of sixteen.[2] Folkard's parents have both competed in archery competitions at the county level, and as of 2012 her brother was a member of the British junior team.[1]
Folkard studied music at theUniversity of Birmingham, competing in the2004 Summer Olympics shortly after finishing her second year examinations.[2] She began playing the violin and the piano at a young age,[3] and credits her early experiences with the violin for her adeptness at archery, saying "it was obvious I had a greater co-ordination than most children of my age because of my music".[2] In 2009 Folkard said had she not become an archer she would probably be a member of an orchestra.[3]
Folkard has one daughter, who was born in 2021.[4]
Folkard was British champion in 2000, 2001, and 2003, and competed in the World Student Games in 2003. She was a reserve for Britain's archery team for the2000 Summer Olympics inSydney.[2] In 2004, she won the UK Indoor Archery Championships in the women's individual recurve category, shortly before qualifying for theOlympics inAthens later that year.[5] Folkard emerged from the 2006 European Indoor Archery Championships a medallist, finishing second and coming away with a silver medal.[6]
Folkard won selection for the2004 Summer Olympics in April 2004, joiningHelen Palmer and four-time OlympianAlison Williamson as a member of Great Britain's women's team.[7] Folkard concluded the 72-arrow ranking round, which determined the seedings for the subsequent elimination rounds, in seventeenth position for thewomen's individual event and commented that although she had difficulty with her opening and closing arrows, "the middle bit was pretty good".[8] She progressed as far as the third round where she was defeated by the top seedPark Sung-hyun of South Korea, losing to the eventual gold medalist by twelve points over the match's eighteen arrows.[9] Folkard, Palmer, and Williamson fared poorly in thewomen's team event where they were defeated by India in the opening elimination round.[10]
At the2008 Summer Olympics Folkard combined with teammates Williamson andCharlotte Burgess to take an unexpected second place for Great Britain in the ranking round for thewomen's team event, trailing only defending champions South Korea.[11] The three progressed through the elimination rounds to reach the semi-finals, where a defeat to China sent them to contest the bronze medal match against France. After a thunderstorm postponed the match for 50 minutes, Folkard and her teammates shot below expectations and lost the twenty-four-arrow contest by two points.[12] In a profile published in 2012,The Telegraph listed failing to win a medal in Beijing as her biggest sporting disappointment.[1]
For thewomen's individual event Folkard had concluded the ranking round in eighth place with a score of 651 points from a maximum of 720.[13] She advanced to the last sixteen of the competition but was defeated in the third round by Japan'sNami Hayakawa after a series of poor-scoring shots.[14]
Folkard secured her place as one of three British female archers for the2012 Olympic Games in April 2012 at the national trials held inLilleshall.[15] She and teammates Williamson andAmy Oliver exited early from thewomen's team event after defeat to Russia in the opening round, having finished eleventh out of twelve nations in the ranking round.[16] Folkard entered the elimination rounds of thewomen's individual event as the highest-placed Briton in forty-second place.[17] Following a first-round victory over Russia'sKristina Timofeeva, which was praised byThe Telegraph as a "fitting riposte" following the earlier British loss in the team event, Folkard bowed out to Mexico'sMariana Avitia in the second round.[18]
Folkard qualified for her fourth Olympic Games in June 2016, entering as one of two British archers contesting the2016 Summer Olympics.[19] She achieved a career-best Olympic performance by reaching the quarter-finals of thewomen's individual competition, matching the pre-Games target set for Great Britain's archers, where she lost to the eventual gold medalistChang Hye-jin of South Korea.[20] Following her defeat Folkard announced that Rio 2016 was to be her last Olympic games, saying "I've been a full-time archer for 11 years now and I need a life" and adding that she planned to become a coach.[21]
Despite planning to retire following the 2016 Summer Olympics, Folkard continued to participate in international tournaments. Her performances earned her a place on the British Olympic team for the delayed2020 Summer Olympics in April 2021, her fifth consecutive appearance at the Games.[22] She and her teammatesSarah Bettles andBryony Pitman were eliminated by Italy in thewomen's team event, and Folkard was later knocked out byWu Jiaxin in thewomen's individual event.[23]
At the2007 World Archery Championships Folkard won bronze medal with Alison Williamson and Charlotte Burgess in the women's team recurve event, defeating Italy in the third-place match after a loss to South Korea in the semi-finals.[24] Folkard fared less well two years later at the2009 Championships, advancing no further than the second round in both her team and individual competitions.[25] She would however win two further bronze medals in the late 2010s, finishing third in the mixed team recurve withPatrick Huston at the2017 Championships inMexico City[26] and later in the women's team recurve at the2019 Championships in's-Hertogenbosch.[27]
Folkard won two medals each at the 2012 and 2014 World Field Archery Championships. At the 2012 Championships inVal-d'Isère inFrance she achieved a gold and a bronze in the women's team and individual competitions respectively[28] before following up with two bronze medals in the same events in 2014.[29]
Folkard achieved three medals at theArchery World Cup between 2007 and 2010. At the fourth stage of the2007 World Cup inDover she won gold in the women's recurve tournament with Alison Williamson and Charlotte Burgess,[30] and in the2008 edition combined with Williamson and Burgess to take gold in theSanto Domingo in April and bronze inBoé in June.[31] WithEdinburgh selected as the host for the final stage of the2010 World Cup, Folkard was entered as a wildcard alongside other British athletes and won silver medal in the mixed team recurve competition withSimon Terry.[32]
Folkard later took a bronze medal at the 2017 Indoor World Cup inNîmes.[33]
Folkard has contested theWorld Games three times, winning a medal in each of her appearances in the women's individual recurve event of thefield archery competition. At theGames in 2009 in Taiwan Folkard achieved a bronze medal,[34] and followed upfour years later inCali with gold medal, the first major title win of her career, after defeating Germany'sElena Richter in the final.[35] Folkard reached the final again at the2017 World Games inWrocław, earning the silver medal after losing to Germany'sLisa Unruh.[36]
Folkard won silver medal in the women's team recurve at the2010 Commonwealth Games, together losing withAlison Williamson andAmy Oliver in the final by a single point to the hosts India.[37]
At the2019 European Games Folkard won two medals, achieving gold in thewomen's team event with Bryony Pitman and Sarah Bettles[38] and silver in themixed team competition withPatrick Huston.[39]
