• Youth

Queen of the bow

Michelline Nawatises



Quinn Reddig's archery adventure began when she was eight years old, when her family members introduced her to the sport.

The reason why Reddig chose archery is because it's the sport she was interested in from day one. Reddig adds that she has tried other school sports but they were not for her, and this, she says, made the bond with archery even stronger.

When asked by The Zone how to improve in archery without an archery group, Reddig mentioned that it takes a lot of discipline and motivation to continue to improve scores. “Competing against the boys' group gives me more motivation,” she says.

Reddig shoots in three categories: compound, recurve and longbow… these are all divergent styles and she adds she loves the challenges of the different styles.

Focus, she says, is key to consistency. “I focus on every step of my style and if you are on your nerves on the line during a big competition, concentrate on yourself and not the other archer, concentrate on your style and try to make it as perfect as you can, and breathe.”

Reddig adds that archery is 80% mental training. The importance of mental training for international participation is often overlooked and plays a vital part in preparation for big competitions.

Reddig's favourite part of the archery is meeting new friends and keeping in contact with them, and the fact that sport can take you across the world.

When asked about her archery achievements she said there are a couple of highlights that took place this year. “I attended the South African Championships and obtained the gold medal at the Youth African Games in Algiers,” she says. Furthermore, the cherry on the cake was when she scooped a bronze medal at the Youth Olympics.

Reddig won the medal as a member of a mixed team at the Youth Olympics. She also competed in the individual section through to the 1/8 round, where she was unfortunately eliminated by a New Zealand participant.



Facts about archery

It might look threatening, but archery is in fact one of the safest sports. With statistics accounting for one injury in every 2 000 archers, the sport is said to be safer than both golf and bowling.

Archery is the art, sport, practice or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows. The word comes from the Latin word 'arcus'.

An archer can also be referred to as a toxophilite (although they rarely are!). The word comes from two Greek words that together mean 'lover of the bow'.

Archery is the national sport of the Kingdom of Bhutan.

At present, the country with the most Olympic golds in archery is South Korea with 19.