The last 12 months have probably been the best yet in Year 13 student Lizzie Warner’s archery career. She came into 2017 on the back of a double victory in the UK Indoor Championships, winning both the junior and senior national titles. Her good form continued throughout the remainder of the indoor season and on into the outdoors, where she gained considerable success in both junior and senior tournaments. She won the series of selection shoots for the GB junior team (Under 21s) by some margin and then went on to finish 1st in the Under 18s at the national outdoor championships, her 5th age group title in successive years. She’s been remarkably consistent in national championships; the last time she failed to finish in the top three, indoor or outdoor, was in 2010.
Lizzie was also remarkably successful shooting in senior competitions. She competed in 4 of the 6 stages of the National Series, the major event on the domestic calendar, finishing 3rd in the first stage and 2nd in stages 2 and 6; she ranked 3rd for the Grand Final which was held in Birmingham City Centre. As a result of her performances in the early part of the season she was invited to the senior selection shoot, where she finished 4th narrowly missing out on a place in the senior team for the World Championships in Mexico. At 17 years old that would have been a considerable achievement. She finished the summer season in 1st place in the junior national rankings and 5th in the senior.
Back indoors, at the National Indoor Championships in December she claimed the bronze medal, following up her 1st place last year, and also finished 3rd in the prestigious Back-to-Back tournament, an invitation only event for the country’s top archers.
Lizzie’s first international call up came in 2013 when she was selected for the England Junior team. She went on to make her debut for GB in 2015, the same year in which she won a silver medal with England at the Commonwealth Youth Games. This year she gained selection for the GB Junior team (under 21s) on three occasions: the European Indoor Championships, where she won a team bronze medal; the Europa Cup in Croatia and the Youth World Championships in Argentina. She also made her debut for the England senior team, one of two women selected, in the Home Nations indoor international.
Lizzie has received innumerable awards in her career; most recently, she was runner-up in the Young Sportswoman category at the Mercury Sports Awards (she won it last year) and is the current Blaby Sportsperson of the Year.
Lizzie meets with her GB coach once a week at the National Sports Centre at Lilleshall in Shropshire. She usually trains 6 days a week for up to 30 hours, working on her technique as well as strength and conditioning exercises and improving her overall fitness. She’s cut back considerably on her training this winter however, as she studies for her A levels at Brookvale Groby Learning Campus, and has taken part in very few tournaments. She’s a member of the National Squad however, and has hopes of making it into the GB Junior team again in the summer and the senior team in the near future. The Olympic Games in 2020 is her ultimate target.
WELL DONE LIZZIE!
