MALVERN’S Vicky Jenkins says she has been overwhelmed by support she has received since returning home from the Rio Paralympic Games after winning an heroic bronze medal.
The 39-year-old archery star told the Observer she has also been inundated with requests to see her medal which she won in the third place play-off shoot in the individual W1 compound event a fortnight ago in her debut Games.
But her hopes of success laid in tatters after she woke up just days before her event unable to move due to a neurological problem.
Despite spending three days in hospital and not shooting an arrow for a week, Jenkins defied all the odds to claim a remarkable bronze after beating Korean Kim Ok Geum by a single point.
Having returned to Malvern, Jenkins told the Observer she was ‘over the moon’ to have won bronze and that her success is only just starting to sink in.
“When I got off the plane I had so much support from my friends and family. I returned home to some cards and people are already asking me to my medal,” she said. “I was over the moon to have got bronze. All the staff congratulated me and when I was lining up my final arrow, I heard the commentator say I needed a nine to get the medal.
“Being in Rio was absolutely amazing, it was just a shame I did not get the chance to see the Olympic Park because of being in hospital.
“However, when was shooting I could see the Christ the Redeemer statue and I used my scope to take a photo – it was beautiful.
“I’d just like to thank the Team GB doctors and hospital staff as they were really good out there. At one point they wanted me to move to another room but I told them I needed to shoot the next day so we got all the paperwork done so I could be discharged.”
Jenkins, who took up archery just six years ago and is a member at Bromyard Bowmen, is now enjoying a fully deserved rest after her Rio adventure but is already looking ahead to the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
The former helicopter pilot and 2014 Herefordshire Sport’s Disabled Sports person of the Year said it would be an ‘unbelievable achievement’ to make it to Japan and is fully prepared to reach her goal.
“I would love to go to Tokyo. I know it’s four years away but time goes so fast and it will soon be upon us,” she added.
“Team GB will do their reviews while we have some time off and then it’s a case of getting back into training.
“I’m looking forward to carrying on from where I left off as archery is a really enjoyable sport.”
