On the shooting line, archery proudly has a long standing history as one of the oldest gender equal Olympic sports, with women archers first featuring at the St Louis 1904 Games, but behind it is where the sport is lagging behind. 

Out of the 156 combined coaches at the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, just 31 were women.

One of them was former archer – and five-time Olympian – Naomi Folkard who, since retiring from shooting after Tokyo 2020, has embarked a coaching journey she hopes to last a lifetime.

To begin with however, the vast current gender imbalance in archery coaching meant Folkard gaining the confidence to truly put her forward for positions was a stumbling block, something unfortunately many women face from a young age. 

Read more at: https://www.worldarchery.sport/news/201910/how-womens-leadership-programme-empowered-naomi-folkard-olympic-coach