Archer Jennifer Nichols Aims For The Bull's-eye

Archer Jennifer Nichols wants to make sure that her third Olympic appearance will be the charm. Despite qualifying for both the 2004 and 2008 games, this competitive Wyoming native has yet to bring back any medals. But if you asked Nichols and her teammates about their chances this year, they’d feel very confident coming into the London games due to experience and faith.

"I think that my team and I gave our winning performance today," Nichols told Deseret News after her squad qualified for the Olympics. “And what's more than that is that I know that God really carried us through. And my relationship with God is of the utmost importance to me. And I tell you what, he was hearing a lot about this tournament today.”

Born on October 3, 1983 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Nichols had always been very active and open to new things growing up. When she was eleven years old, her father, Brent, thought it would be a good idea to buy compound bows for her and his four other kids as Christmas presents. It wasn’t just a good present for the family, but also a turning point in Nichols’ life as she grew to love archery. When she was fourteen years old, Nichols competed in the US Indoor National Championships. Despite not performing as well as she hoped, Nichols’ new the experience was good for her as she prepared for future competitive archery events. When she joined her schools archery club at age fifteen, her skills were so impressive that a coach told her she might have a future in the Olympics.
“I took this as a great compliment,” Nichols’ told NBC. “It just stuck in the back of my mind. The idea grew into a dream I would spend the next five years pursuing.”

In 2001, Nichols’ experienced her first taste of archery greatness when she won her first National Championship and was named an honorary member of the Jr. USA Team. The following year, she was named to Senior USA team.

2003 turned out to be a memorable year for Nichols as she found herself on the receiving end of many awards. She won the Silver Medal in the Indoor World Championship, finished ninth in the World Championships, and brought home Gold Medals in events such as the US Open, Pan-American games, and the European Grand Prix, according to her official web site.

Even though Nichols’ has had so many great and exciting experiences in competing at Championship events, she feels that there is no comparison when it comes to competing at the Olympics. "One of my favorites is when I walked into the Panathinaikos stadium,” Nichols stated in regard to her first Olympics experience. "I had the first match of the first day, and so I was the first athlete to walk out onto the field of competition. After thinking about it I realized that I was the first (Olympic) athlete walking out for competition since the 1896 Olympics… I thought that was very special to me and that was a great match and a great competition and a great memory.”

Fresh off the recent Olympic trials, Nichols’ and her team could make this year’s appearance the most special as they come in with more confidence then the previous two appearances.

"I feel that this team is a winning team," Nichols stated after qualifying at the trials. "In my second Olympics, I didn't even have a team; it was just Khatuna and me, so we didn't even have a chance to go to the team competition. But this, this is it for us, and I feel that our performance out here was training us and building our confidence for what's to come in London.”

With enough experience, and several championships under her belt, it’s hard for a competitor like Jennifer Nichols’ not to believe in herself this summer.

—SIGMUND SICANGCO