WILLIAMS Jack

General
YOUNG TALENT
In 2016, at age 16, he finished high school early in order to join the Resident Athlete Program at the US Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. He was inspired to aim for the 2020 Olympic Games following encouragement from US national coach Kisik Lee. "If I'd have come [to the Olympic Training Center] after I graduated in 2018, it would not be possible to do that tight of a turnaround between graduating and the 2020 [Olympic] Trials and all that competition before the Olympics. That's when we realised that I had to do it when I was 16, so that we had a reasonable amount of time to do the Resident Athlete Program and get ready. Coach Lee came to me and said I have the potential to make the Olympic and World Cup teams, and that's when I realised that 2020 is my year over 2024 or 2028. It can happen now. And that's when I put everything on the line to get ready for that." (Competition Archery Media Facebook page, 01 Jun 2019)

BEATING THE BEST
Having only taken up the sport at age 14, he admits to sometimes feeling intimidated competing against, and beating, older and more experienced archers. As a teenager he won individual bronze and team gold at the 2018 Pan American Championships in Medellin, Colombia, and finished in the top 10 of both the team and individual events at the 2019 World Championships in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. "There is a slight intimidation behind it. But when you think back on it, you've shot high scores just as they [more experienced archers] have and you've got just as much potential to win as they do. It really levels it all out. OK he [an opponent] has three or four Olympic medals [but might] not have a great day, while you might be having a great day." (SportsDeskOnline, 04 Jul 2019; TruballAxcel YouTube channel, 05 Feb 2019)