Naomi Folkard not thinking about future after Olympics exit

Folkard is part of a group of mothers who are competing in Tokyo but faced perhaps the hardest ordeal in leaving behind five-month-old baby Emily.

That led to freezing breast milk and extensive birth plans in order to make the trip possible.

The pair will be reunited soon after the 37-year-old Folkard went out in the 1/32 eliminations to China’s Wu Jiaxin, bringing down the curtain on her fifth Olympics.

When asked about her future within the sport, the Coventry archer replied: “I’ve not thought about that, really. I’m going to go home and enjoy being a mum.”

Folkard had hoped to put an end to GB’s long wait for an archery medal, the last coming back in 2004 when Alison Williamson won bronze in Athens.

The best chance appeared to come in the women’s team, where Folkard had been part of a team that won World Championship bronze in 2019.

They never really found their best form in that competition, going out to Italy in the 1/8 elimination, leaving Folkard hoping to make up for it in the individual.

It was not to be, with Wu proving too strong, taking their match 6-2 before knocking out another Brit, Sarah Bettles in the next round.

But as the senior member of the archery team, Folkard took a lot from the spirit within the group.

She added: “Pretty unfortunate. It’s great to have been part of a full team, we’ve been really supportive of each other and I feel like I brought experience and strength to that team.

“I hope that my teammates value me being here.

“I think I managed the heat quite well. The only thing that’s really annoying with the heat is that your fingers get sticky but I think I coped with that quite well.”

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