Tough times have given Shropshire's Penny Healey new perspective ahead of Olympics

Last year the Shropshire archer was soaring, hitting the world No.1 spot at the age of just 18 after winning her first individual World Cup title, while also being on the three-person shortlist for BBC young personality of the year.

But away from the shoot line, things were different. Family illness, coupled with the death of her grandmother, meant 2023 was far tougher than anyone who merely followed Healey the sportswoman could have imagined.

“I was very negative last year,” she explains. “I was not negative about how I performed last year.

“But there were a lot of external factors. My mom became unwell and then my nan died. That had a big impact.

“I was happy with last year, in terms of my performances. But all around I think I am happier with this year, so far.”

That happiness is in spite of Healey admitting some frustration at 2024 not so far delivering the results she had hoped.

Relatively modest performances, considering the heights reached last year, mean she can with some justification claim to be entering her first Olympic Games with the pressure slightly off.

She and her team-mates on the archery squad will be the first GB athletes in action at Paris 2024 when the ranking round takes place tomorrow.

“There are obviously going to be nerves but I think it is more excitement for me at the moment,” Healey, now 19, explained.

“I am ready to get on to that shoot line and ready to show the best I can do.

“I think there will always be an expectation. Maybe not from other people but always from within myself.

“This year I have not necessarily gone out and won the amount of medals I did last year, so there is not as much pressure on me. But I feel like I am in a good place at the moment.”

Whatever happens, appearing at a first Olympics still represents a considerable achievement for Healey.

Inspired to take up archery after watching the Disney film Brave, she got her first taste of the sport at Newport’s Audco Archers aged nine.

“From the moment I tried it, I fell in love with it straight away,” she recalls. “I wasn’t very good but anyone who starts off is not going to be very good.”

Healey got good, however, rather quickly, to the extent she at one point had aspirations of making her Olympic debut three years early at the delayed Tokyo 2020 games.

That summer still turned out to be something of a breakthrough. Healey, who has been open about how archery has helped her through struggles with mental health, shot a European record to properly announce herself on the elite stages.

“I had a lot of struggles that year, especially coming out of lockdown,” she says. “But to come out and shoot a European record and then continue that pace. That was probably where the realisation was that I’m quite good at this.”

With her bucket hat and colourful hairstyles, Healey is at the forefront of a new generation in an ancient sport.

“I love archery for the fact it is a space where I can be me,” he says.

“It has helped me a lot with my mental health and a lot of the stuff I have had. Just having a place where I can be me and have fun. It is what I like.

“There is always the goal of winning the gold medal,” adds Healey, who will compete in the individual women’s and team recurve events.

“But for me, at the moment, there was a lot of last year when I was winning and was not happy walking off that line.

“This year I come off the line and finish it thinking I have put everything I have into that and have shot the best I potentially could have, then I am happy.”