Mel Clarke (born 2 September 1982) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Personal life

Clarke was born on 2 September 1982 in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, England. Since the age of 11 she has used a wheelchair because of an arthritic condition. In 2003

Lyme disease Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a vector-borne disease caused by the ''Borrelia'' bacterium, which is spread by ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. The most common sign of infection is an expanding red rash, known as erythema migran ...

caused her to lose sight in one eye.

Archery

Clarke first tried

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

as a member of the

Girl Guides Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

in 1998. She took part in her first international competition in 2002. In 2003, she became the first disabled archer from Europe to take part in an able-bodied event at international level, however it was during this event that she contracted Lyme disease. She lost sight in her aiming eye and had to remodel her shooting style to compensate, developing a stance with her head tilted back to make best use of her working eye. At the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

, held in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China, she won a bronze medal in the women's individual compound event. Having been defeated by fellow British competitor

Danielle Brown Danielle Brown MBE (born 10 April 1988) is a British competitive archer and award winning children's author. She has competed in the Paralympic Games winning gold medals in Beijing and London and has also won medals shooting in the able bodi ...

in the semifinal with a score of 113–105, Clarke beat Turkey's

Gulbin Su Gulbin , is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Giby, within Sejny County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland, close to the borders with Belarus and Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of ...

in the bronze playoff to win the medal. In 2009, she won a gold medal in the team event and a silver in the individual at the World Championships held in the Czech Republic. She was overwhelmed 114-107 by teammate and reigning Paralympic Champion Danielle Brown in the final of the individual event. In the 2010 European Championships Clarke did not rank highly in the individual event, but won a silver medal with the women's compound team. Teammates Danielle Brown and Pippa Britton won the individual gold and silver respectively. Clarke also failed to make the team for the 2011 World Championships, beaten to the mark by Danielle Brown, Pippa Britton and Sarah Beamish. Clarke was selected to compete for

Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, United Kingdom. She took part in the women's individual compound event and advanced to the final to face compatriot Brown. The first two sets were tied before Brown won the third and Clarke the fourth to force a fifth set. Clarke was left needing to score a ten with her final arrow to take the match to a shoot-off, however she was unable to capitalise on this and scored a seven meaning she won the silver medal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Mel English female archers Paralympic archers of Great Britain Archers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics 1982 births Living people Archers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in archery