Charlie Medhurst targeting spot at LA Olympic Games

By James Reid, Sportsbeat

Birmingham archer Charlie Medhurst wants to cap a memorable rise from first picking up a bow at Butlin’s to competing at the 2028 Olympic Games.

Medhurst, 18, first gave the sport a go in the unlikely surroundings of a family holiday but soon became hooked and rose up the ranks.

The teenager is now on Archery GB’s Olympic pathway, sitting just below the Olympic squad, and hopes to break into it in time for a trip to Los Angeles in five years’ time.

“I am not aiming for the 2024 Olympics, I am setting my sights on the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles,” said Medhurst, who has been selected to be part of Aldi’s Rising Stars programme, an initiative with SportsAid that provides talented young athletes with financial support, recognition and personal development opportunities.

“I think that’s a great goal for me. The squad that are there now are a level above where I am, so I just need to keep working and hopefully get recognised in the years leading up to that.

“I am hoping within the next couple of years I will have proved myself enough to get onto the adult squad.

“Once you are on the adult squad, they do a lot of training trips all over the world and they will usually take three or four people to World Cups and World Championships.

“I know it’s achievable because I have seen the level [new world No.1] Penny [Healey] was at a few years ago, and I’ve seen her put a lot of hard work in and fly.

“I will need to shoot some qualifying scores at a world ranking event. Once I have got the scores I will be invited to a selection event where the top three will be selected for the Olympic squad, with fourth and fifth the reserves.”

Each athlete on the Rising Stars programme, which was launched with SportsAid last year, receives funding to help towards costs such as travel, accommodation, equipment and nutrition, with Aldi also delivering workshop sessions on a range of topics to help nurture athletes for their sporting endeavours and beyond.

This includes top tips on healthy eating and performance nutrition, restful sleep, managing mental wellbeing, social media training and working with the media.

In addition, the talented young athletes, who have been nominated to SportsAid by the governing bodies of their respective sports, play a key role in the promotion of the supermarket’s ‘Get Set to Eat Fresh’ programme, which aims to educate children on the importance of a healthy diet.

To date this partnership has reached over 2.2 million young people, with a target to educate an extra one million children by the end of 2024.

A place in the Olympic squad would be the perfect end to Medhurst’s unorthodox journey, that saw a family holiday offer a life-changing opportunity.

“I was about eight years old and we went to Butlin’s on a family holiday,” he explained.

“My dad recommended we try archery, I really enjoyed it, we came home and my dad said we should look for any local clubs. We found one, I had a taster day and joined up; 11 years later I am still here.

“I met up with a coach that offered to train me. He raised my level up. When I got there originally I just wanted to shoot at faces on a target. He moulded me and helped me mature into what I needed to be.

“He then took me on a scouting day at the national training day and from there I was invited to join the Olympic pathway. I have followed that all the way to where I am now, which is just below the Olympic squad.”

Aldi is the Official Supermarket Partner of Team GB and ParalympicsGB and have partnered with Team GB since 2015, ParalympicsGB since 2022 and will be supporting them through to Paris 2024