30 Facts About Naomi Folkard

Naomi Anne Folkard was born on 18 September 1983 and is a British archer who has represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games five times between 2004 and 2020.

Naomi Folkard has represented Great Britain at the World Archery Championships and the Archery World Cup, and England at the Commonwealth Games.

Naomi Folkard has since regularly competed in international recurve archery events and later participated in the 2008,2012, and 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics.

Naomi Folkard is a prominent competitor in field archery, having won medals at the World Games and the World Field Archery Championships.

Naomi Folkard was born on 18 September 1983 in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.

Naomi Folkard was introduced to archery at the age of five, first trying out the sport at a family scout camp.

Naomi 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.

Naomi Folkard studied music at the University of Birmingham, competing in the 2004 Summer Olympics shortly after finishing her second year examinations.

Naomi Folkard began playing the violin and the piano at a young age, 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".

In 2009 Naomi Folkard said had she not become an archer she would probably be a member of an orchestra.

Naomi Folkard was British champion in 2000,2001, and 2003, and competed in the World Student Games in 2003.

Naomi Folkard was a reserve for Britain's archery team for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Naomi Folkard emerged from the 2006 European Indoor Archery Championships a medallist, finishing second and coming away with a silver medal.

Naomi Folkard won selection for the 2004 Summer Olympics in April 2004, joining Helen Palmer and four-time Olympian Alison Williamson as a member of Great Britain's women's team.

Naomi Folkard concluded the 72-arrow ranking round, which determined the seedings for the subsequent elimination rounds, in seventeenth position for the women's individual event and commented that although she had difficulty with her opening and closing arrows, "the middle bit was pretty good".

Naomi Folkard progressed as far as the third round where she was defeated by the top seed Park Sung-hyun of South Korea, losing to the eventual gold medalist by twelve points over the match's eighteen arrows.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics Naomi Folkard combined with teammates Williamson and Charlotte Burgess to take an unexpected second place for Great Britain in the ranking round for the women's team event, trailing only defending champions South Korea.

Naomi Folkard secured her place as one of three British female archers for the 2012 Olympic Games in April 2012 at the national trials held in Lilleshall.

Naomi Folkard entered the elimination rounds of the women's individual event as the highest-placed Briton in forty-second place.

Naomi Folkard achieved a career-best Olympic performance by reaching the quarter-finals of the women's individual competition, matching the pre-Games target set for Great Britain's archers, where she lost to the eventual gold medalist Chang Hye-jin of South Korea.

Naomi Folkard's performances earned her a place on the British Olympic team for the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in April 2021, her fifth consecutive appearance at the Games.

At the 2007 World Archery Championships Naomi 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.

Naomi Folkard fared less well two years later at the 2009 Championships, advancing no further than the second round in both her team and individual competitions.

Naomi Folkard won two medals each at the 2012 and 2014 World Field Archery Championships.

Naomi Folkard achieved three medals at the Archery World Cup between 2007 and 2010.

Naomi Folkard later took a bronze medal at the 2017 Indoor World Cup in Nimes.

Naomi Folkard has contested the World Games three times, winning a medal in each of her appearances in the women's individual recurve event of the field archery competition.

At the Games in 2009 in Taiwan Naomi Folkard achieved a bronze medal, and followed up four years later in Cali with gold medal, the first major title win of her career, after defeating Germany's Elena Richter in the final.

Naomi Folkard won silver medal in the women's team recurve at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, together losing with Alison Williamson and Amy Oliver in the final by a single point to the hosts India.

At the 2019 European Games Naomi Folkard won two medals, achieving gold in the women's team event with Bryony Pitman and Sarah Bettles and silver in the mixed team competition with Patrick Huston.