Kitchener archer takes aim at Olympic gold in Paris

A world-class archer from Kitchener is shooting for the podium in this year’s Olympic Games.

Eric Peters, the fifth-ranked archer in the world, qualified for his first Summer Games after serving as alternate for Team Canada at Tokyo 2020.

“I just missed out and that was really hard for me to take,” Peters told CTV News. “Knowing I was going this time was just great.”

Peters is originally from Ottawa and trains at the Archery Canada range in Cambridge five to six times per week.

Now 16 years into the sport, he said his passion came at an early age.

“I was always a really nerdy kid. I loved fantasy books and games and all that sort of stuff,” Peters said “Archery was always very interesting to me. Something that I always wanted to really do and something that I was really good at.”

A number of factors go into collecting the best score. Archers shoot arrows from 70 metres away, mainly trying to get inside a 12.2 centimetre target.

Soha Mahmoud competed on Egypt’s national team at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing and now serves as a coach for Canada’s junior national team. She says everything needs to be taken into account.

“If it’s windy, if it’s raining, if it’s hot, all of this affects the archer,” Mahmoud told CTV News.

Peters said he accounts for every kind of condition, including humidity and altitude.

The 27-year-old joins Montreal’s Virginie Chénier as the only other archer representing Canada, each competing in three individual events.

Peters’ previous experience includes two appearances at the Pan Am Games and becoming the first Canadian to earn a men’s individual silver medal at the World Archery Championships.

Despite his history on the international stage, Peters said the Olympics will be a totally different atmosphere.

“All of the uproar around the Games and the environment around the Olympic Games are completely different,” Peters said.

The Canadian added the Olympics come with a smaller field compared to a world championship which could open the door for a good finish at the Games.

For now, he’s focused on keeping the same perspective he’s had his whole career.

“I want to be loose and free and have a good time with it,” Peters said. “That’s what’s going to drive me to success.”