My name is Jai Crawley, and I have lived in Melbourne, Australia my whole life. I am now 18 and have dedicated the past six years of my life to Recurve Archery. My journey in this sport commenced in 2016 when I was just 11 years old, amazed by the archery event at the Rio Olympic Games. Witnessing the Australian Men’s team securing the bronze medal ignited my passion and desire to try the sport. As with many others, my love for the sport was also fostered by pop cultures’ depictions of archery in shows such as DC’s Arrow.
The turning point in my archery journey happened in 2021, during my first attendance to the Australian Open. With the primary goal of having a good time and gaining valuable experience, my 10th-place ranking exceeded my initial expectations. Advancing to the 1/16th round pitted me against Olympian, Ryan Tyack. Later in the event, our team managed to take the win in the bronze medal match. This competition stands as the pivotal point in my archery career, for it opened the door to National squads and a range of possible opportunities.
The year 2021 marked my transition from the National Youth Squad to the National Development Squad. 2022 followed a similar route, as I qualified for the High Performance Team. Though my journey has been pretty short, it has been filled with valuable experiences and personal growth. One highlight was that I had the honour of representing Australia at two World Cups in 2022, participating in both the Korean and Paris stages.
The year 2023 has been an incredibly busy and influential period in my archery career. I have competed in events around the globe, including international events such as the Asia Cup 1 (Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei), World Cup 1 (Antalya, Turkey), World Cup 2 (Shanghai, China), Asia Cup 3 (Singapore), World Archery Youth Championships (WAYC – Limerick, Ireland), World Archery Championships (WAC – Berlin, Germany), and most recently, the World Cup 4 (Paris, France). All of these experiences have been filled with learning curves and teachable moments, solidifying my motivation and determination to continue pushing toward my goal of representing Australia on the 2024 Paris Olympic team.
Going forward, I am eager to continue pushing myself and representing Australia on the international stage. These next few months back at home will be the perfect chance to spend quality time with family and friends, along with the opportunity to improve upon weaknesses I discovered while competing overseas.