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Show Olympic medalist is a solid gold individual ing Olympics. She gave me a confident "sure," then with a smile suggested that I let Kim Soo-Nyung, the gold medalist in the last Olympics, know that Parker was supposed to win this time. Parker began shooting at age 10. To progress to an Olympic champion in just a few years is a tribute to her talent, dedication and practice. Her daily practice sessions consist of shooting 100 arrows. In the winter, she shoots indoors. During the summer she shoots outdoors and at various distances. The key to accurate archery, according to Parker, is to be consistent in your draw, release, and follow through. If you can shoot consistently, you can adjust your sight so the arrows hit in the right spot Parker shoots a 32-pound recurve Gold Medalist bow made by Hoyt In competition she shoots 30, 50, 60 and 70 meters. Seventy meters is a little over 75 yards. I shoot a 65-pound 65-pound compound bow, which has a fairly flat trajectory. Seventy-five yards is a lot farther than I care to shoot, even with all of that power, yet Parker consistently con-sistently shoots high scores at that distance with a light bow. To hit the target requires aiming high,.compensating for windage, and a great deal of practice. I asked her what type of arrows she uses in her shooting. She told me that she recently changed from aluminum shaft arrows to carbon shaft arrows. The carbon arrows are smaller in diameter and have a flatter trajectory. tra-jectory. Because of their size and speed, they are less affected by the wind and require less elevation eleva-tion when snooting long distances. She did tell me that it took her some time to get used to the arrows, but that they work well now. After our shooting lessons, Parker autographed posters foi each of us. When she is shooting in the next Olympics, I know one family that will be rooting foi her to win the gold. Utah can be proud of this Olympic champion. Last Saturday, while wandering wander-ing around the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's Elk Camp at the Salt Palace, it was announced that Utah's 1988 Olympic Bronze Medalist in archery, Denise Parker, was giving demonstrations dem-onstrations at the archery range. My sons thought it would be fun to go look at the new bows, so after asking three different door guards where the archery range was located, and getting three different answers, we finally final-ly found the shooting area in one of the meeting rooms on the second se-cond floor of the Salt Palace. Ulah Outdoors I'Tl by Mike llTrJTI Hemingway After looking at the various Hoyt bows, my youngest son, Tim, decided that he would like to shoot some arrows at the targets. When he took the bow and arrows into the shooting area, Parker went over to give him some tips on correct shooting. With her help, he was able to get a couple of arrows into the target. Knowing that I enjoy archery, the kids urged me to try out some of the bows. I have shot plenty of arrows in my life, and have even owned a Hoyt bow, so I decided to give it a try. My first arrow went over the top of the target, (I told the kids that the target was too close), but the rest hit home. I am sure that Parker could have given me all kinds of 1 tips to improve my shooting. While my son and a nephew were taking their turn shooting, I visited with Parker. She is a true Olympic champion and a very pleasant person who was very patient with those asking all kinds of questior Parker won a bronze medal in archery at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea. She was 14 years old at the time. I asked if she was going to win the gold in the com |