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Writer's pictureBen Waterworth

Paeglis narrowly edged out in epic Archery encounter

Archer Laura Paeglis has fallen just short of a stunning first elimination round upset in the women’s Individual Archery at the Esplanade des Invalides, losing in the final set to Caroline Lopez of France.


Using the loud and parochial French crowd to her advantage, Laura shot out to a two set lead in the 1/32 elimination round, looking extremely composed under a grey but hot Parisian sky.


However, the 22-year-old wasn’t able to hold off the resurgent Lopez, falling 6-4 to the world number 43 in a thrilling encounter.


Laura admitted she was able to ride on the adrenaline of the crowd at the beginning and was disappointed not to be able to hold on to her advantage.


“In my practice I was actually shooting worse,” she said. “So I got up there and the adrenaline just really pushed me.


“I started really strong, relaxed a little, and that was when I just lost that little bit of an edge that I needed. 


“I was still shooting really well, so I'm really proud of myself.”


Laura set the standard immediately with a ten on her very first arrow, before following it up with two nines to take the first set 28-21.


She left the crowd even more stunned in the second set, firing a nine and two perfect tens to close out with a 29-27 win and a 4-0 lead.


Lopez clawed her way back in the third after starting with a perfect ten on her first arrow, and followed it up with two nines to edge out Laura 28-27.


The crowd rose to its feet in the fourth after the hometown hero sent it into a decider by taking the set 28-26.


With both archers opening their final round with a nine, Lopez managed a ten on her second arrow, compared to Laura’s eight. Despite shooting a perfect ten on her last arrow of the match, Laura fell just shot after Lopez secured the 28-27 final set win by shooting a nine.



Laura said that despite the disappointment of her loss, she relished her Olympic experience and getting to compete in front of such a large crowd.


“This was huge, especially the home crowd,” she said. “It was nuts. 


“It was awesome, I loved every second of it.”


This article was originally written for The Australian Olympic Team. You can read the published version here

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