Penny Healey, age 17, is a British archer who specializes in women’s recurve archery events. She had an outstanding performance at the 2023 European Games held in Krakow, Poland, where she came out victorious by securing two gold medals. Penny Healey is now to compete in the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics, where she will represent Great Britain in archery.
Penny Healey Qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024
“I always had in mind I wanted to go to the Olympics one day, and now it has turned into that I can actually go to the Olympics,”
Healey told Olympics.com before the 2023 European Games.
At the 2023 European Games in Kraków, Poland, Healey made a major statement by winning two gold medals. Her victory in the women’s recurve event secured the first Olympic quota spot for Great Britain. But she wasn’t done yet.
Leading the British women’s recurve team alongside teammates Bryony Pitman and Jaspreet Kaur Sagoo, Healey guided them to a 5-1 victory over France in the team final. This result locked in a second Olympic quota for the nation.
By the end of the European Games, Healey had punched two tickets to Paris 2024 for the British archery squad. Healey wasn’t the only one securing Olympic quotas on that day. Her opponent, Elia Canales of Spain, also came into the gold medal match having already qualified for an Olympic spot for her home country.
Penny Healey’s Early life with her Parents
Penny Healey was born on March 7, 2005, in the United Kingdom, Penny Healey grew up in the town of Telford, nestled in the West Midlands region. Her parents, Emma Jones (mother, age 44) and Ryan (father, age 38) provided a loving home environment. Penny also has a younger sister named Neave, currently 15 years old.
The family’s life took an interesting turn when the COVID-19 lockdowns hit. Penny’s stepfather, who used to be in the egg-selling business, came home one day with a pet named Emus!.
Penny attended Idsall School in Telford and went on to study at Loughborough College.
Penny Healey was born on 7 March 2005, in the United Kingdom. She currently lives in Telford. Talking about her parents she was born to her parents Emma Jones (mother), 44, and Ryan, 38 (Father). She has one sibling sister named Neave, 15, and has a Stepdad who used to sell eggs, when lockdown hit her stepfather got her Pet Named “Emus”.
Penny attended Idsall School in Telford and went on to study at Loughborough College. Healey enjoys archery and dancing, as well as spending time with animals to relieve stress.
Penny Healey Archery Career So far
Early Career
It all started with a Disney movie. At just 9 years old, Penny Healey found herself in the archery scenes in the animated film “Brave.” As someone who previously enjoyed horseback riding, the young Healey was instantly inspired by how enjoyable the bow and arrow sport looked on screen. Wasting no time, she signed up for a beginner’s archery course at Audco Archers in her hometown.
“The moment I first stepped onto that line and shot my first shot, I remember turning around to my mom and being like, ‘this is so cool’. It kind of was love at first sight, and the passion just grew from there.”
Healey recalls
Penny Healey wins first world title aged 16. Penny’s talents were quickly recognized as she go up in the ranks of the sport. At just 17 years old, the recurve archer Penny Healey was selected to join the celebrated Team GB squad.
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Penny attended the 2019 European Youth Cup competition in Slovenia. Since then, she established herself as a key member of Great Britain’s Recurve women’s team.
Healey’s continued as she reached new milestones at just 18 years old. She earned a spot in her first-ever elite World Cup and won her first World Cup final.
The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns of 2020 brought huge challenges, as she struggled with her mental health. Archery helps her to manage that anxiety.
“Over lockdown, I struggled a lot and coming back to competing,”. “Archery has helped me a lot with that. It helps me refocus and calm down. “When I’m shooting, it’s just me and my bow and the target and when I need some headspace, I can just go and shoot. My Mum and the people who know me realise that!”
she said
After Covid and Professional Career
In the 2021 season, she represented Great Britain internationally on two occasions, including her first-ever senior trip with the national squad. But it was an individual record-breaking performance that stood out as one of Healey’s best memories of 2021. She shot an amazing 680, setting new junior European, British senior, and British junior national records.
It was a breakout season in many ways, as Penny became the youngest-ever winner of the British National Tour. She also gained entry into British Archery‘s elite Performance Archery Potential Programme alongside other top senior athletes and she was ready for the professional ranks despite her young age.
2022 would prove to be Penny Healey’s true breakthrough year on the international professional circuit. Early on, she captured her first career victory at the World Indoor Series event in Las Vegas. It was a statement win that showed she could do well at archery’s highest levels of competition.
But Healey was just getting started. Representing Great Britain’s recurve women’s team alongside Bryony Pitman and Jaspreet Sagoo, she hit gold at the Antalya World Cup. It was her first taste of success at one of archery’s events and announced her arrival as an elite archer.
Healey placed 9th at the European Championships before taking 4th at the Paris World Cup stage. Over the winter, she even broke the junior world record over 15 meters.
“2022 was a pretty good year and I didn’t quite expect it,” “Some of my results were a big surprise and they helped give me a push in confidence for the rest of the year. I started 2023 off as world number 15 which was pretty crazy.”
said Healey.
European Grand Prix 2023
She captured gold at the European Grand Prix and Antalya World Cup stage, continuing her pattern of excellence at archery’s most events. Healey reached new heights when she made her debut at the elite World Cup Finals in Mexico.
The crowning achievement, however, came at the 2023 European Games in Poland. Healey won individual gold and also led the British recurve women’s team to team gold, defeating France in the final. Incredibly, she secured TWO crucial Olympic quota spots for Great Britain with those results.
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Healey’s incredible successes in 2023 pushed her to the number one world ranking in women’s recurve archery. She was named a finalist for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year, making it clear the young Briton had truly arrived as a dominant force in her sport on the global stage.
In the 2023 season, Healey became the number one women’s recurve archer in the world following an individual gold medal at Stage 1 of the 2023 Archery World Cup in Antalya, and her success at the 2023 European Games. She was a nominee for BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2023.
