By Tom Degun

February 15 - Archer Danielle Brown (pictured), who struck gold in her Paralympic debut at the Beijing 2008 Games, admits that she is fully focused on obtaining a top degree in law before she focuses on defending her title at London 2012.  


Brown suffers from reflex sympathetic dystrophy - a condition that causes chronic pain in her feet meaning that she shoots propped on a stool - and was the youngest member of the British archery team in Beijing where she claimed the women’s individual compound open title at just 20-years-old after beating Japan’s Chieko Kamiya 112-98 in the final.

But the charismatic girl from Yorkshire, who was also a double gold medallist for Britain at the World Championships in 2007, has constantly had to balance the demands of world class competition with academic study as she is currently in her final year of study for a law degree at the University of Leicester.

Brown claims that achieving top marks in her degree is her primary focus before she looks fully ahead to London 2012.  

She told insideworldparasport:"“I finish my degree around May time this year and for the moment, it is a big priority for me to do well in that.

"It has been a bit of a challenge trying to balance university work alongside shooting but once I finish, I am looking forward to competing full time as an archer and I think the extra training will really benefit me as an athlete heading into London 2012."

Brown also revealed that she has been boasted by the acquisition of new equipment.

She said: "At the minute, I’m probably shooting better than I ever have in my life.

"I recently upgraded my equipment which has really benefited my performances and I hope I can carry that on for next season and beyond."

As one of Britain’s most successful Paralympic athletes, Brown (pictured) is receiving increased media attention heading into London 2012 but claimed that she is delighted that the profile of disability sport and its stars is being raised because of the Games.

She said: "It is fantastic that Paralympic athletes like me are being put in the spotlight ahead of London 2012 because it gets more people around the country interested in disability sport.

"Winning medals definitely helps raise the profile of our sports and I think if we can keep doing that then Paralympic sport in this country will continue to grow leading up to and following the London 2012 Games.

"Hopefully, our achievements will filter down to young people around the country and allow disabled children in schools to get better opportunities to participate in sport than there have been in the past.

"My experience of school sport wasn’t particularly good and it was really by accident that I found archery which shouldn’t have been the case.

"That is why I think it is important to have organisations like Youth Sport Trust out there who promote school sport and the more media attention that athletes like me can bring to disability sport, the better."

But for now, Brown’s main priority is to graduate with flying colours and then heading to London 2012 with a home crowd behind her.

She said: "Competing at London 2012 in front of a home crowd will be amazing and I hope that they can inspire me to another gold medal.

"Every competition form now to 2012 is a stepping stone to London and I hope to compete in able-bodied and disabled competitions in the run up to the Games as that will make a better archer.

"Hopefully I do very well in my degree and then after that, I can focus 100 percent on London 2012 and defending my title."

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