Danielle Brown

Danielle Brown
Personal information
Born (1988-04-10) 10 April 1988
Lothersdale, North Yorkshire, England
Website www.daniellebrown.co.uk

Danielle Brown MBE (born 10 April 1988[1]) is an English competitive archer. She has competed in the Paralympic Games winning gold medals in Beijing and London and has also won medals shooting in the able bodied category including the Commonwealth Games. Danielle also does motivational speaking, is a mentor, mental coach and author.

She was born in Lothersdale, North Yorkshire.[2]

Career

Her first international competitive event was at the European Archery Championships (for athletes with disabilities) in Nymburk in 2006. She reached the semi-finals of the Compound Bow Open Class event, and was defeated (100 to 105) by Gulbin Su of Turkey. She lost the bronze medal match to fellow British competitor Melanie Clarke (101 to 109).[3]

She then took part in the IPC World Archery Championships in Cheongju in 2007. Competing in the Compound Bow Open Class event, she won gold with a score of 114 points (defeating Gulbin Su 116–107 in the semi-final, and Wang Li of China 114–108 in the final). She was also part of the British women's team which won gold in the team event in the Compound Bow Open Class, defeating Japan 221–199 in the final.[3][4]

In 2008, Brown won silver (beaten by Gulbin Su in the final) in the Invitation Disabled Archery Event in Stoke Mandeville, then competed at the Paralympic Games in Beijing, where she won gold in the Women's individual compound, defeating Wang in the quarter-finals, Clarke in the semis, and Chieko Kamiya of Japan in the final (112–98). In 2009, she won a second successive individual gold medal, and a team gold, at the IPC World Archery Championships, followed in 2010 by three successive individual gold medals: at the Arizona Cup, at the Stoke Mandeville World Invitational Disabled Archery Competition, and at the European Para-Archery Championships.[5]

She represented England in archery at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, having qualified "after a two-day selection shoot in Coventry in June where she finished second behind world number one Nicky Hunt".[2] She was "the first Paralympian to represent England in an able-bodied event at the Games",[6][7][8] though cyclist Sarah Storey (who won two gold medals in cycling at the 2008 Paralympics) also competed against able-bodied athletes a few days later.[9][10] She won a gold medal in the Women's Team Compound event, beating Canada 232–229 alongside team-mates Nicky Hunt and Nichola Simpson.[11]

In 2011, she won an additional individual gold medal at the IPC World Championships in Turin, followed by two silver medals in the women's team event and the mixed team event.[12]

In 2012, she won her second successive Paralympic Games gold medal, beating GB teammate Mel Clarke in the final at the Royal Artillery Barracks, London.[12]

Brown was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to archery.[13][14]

On 1 September 2013 Danielle won the able-bodied British title with victory at the Archery GB National Series finals in Nottingham. She beat Lucy O'Sullivan 142–141 in the compound final.[15]

In November 2013, World Archery announced that Brown would not be able to compete in Para-Archery contests (such as the 2016 Olympics) in the future as her disability did not have a direct and important impact on her archery performance. She appealed the ruling, but it was upheld in favour of World Archery. As of 1 April 2014, she is unable to compete in Para-Archery.[16][17]

Personal life

Brown suffers from reflex sympathetic dystrophy, also known as complex regional pain syndrome, in the feet, and competes sitting down or "leaning on a stool". She was, at the time of the 2008 Paralympics, a law student at Leicester University, and subsequently achieved a first.[2][18][19][20] She was bestowed an honorary degree of Doctors of Laws from the University of Leicester on Friday 25 January 2013[21] On 19 September 2013 Leicester University named a sports centre after her. [22] On 22 September 2013 Brown was made a Freewoman of the district of Craven[23] and on 1 July 2014 Brown was given the Freedom of the City of London.

Achievements

The gold post box painted in honour of Brown's 2012 Summer Paralympic gold medal

Source:[12]

See also

References

  1. "Danielle Brown", International Paralympic Committee – Archery
  2. 1 2 3 "Ones to watch in Delhi: Danielle Brown", BBC, 4 October 2010
  3. 1 2 Athlete results: Melanie Brown, International Paralympic Committee – Archery
  4. "6th IPC World Archery Championships", International Paralympic Committee – Archery
  5. Athlete results: Danielle Brown, International Paralympic Committee – Archery
  6. "Archery is back at the Commonwealth Games", International Archery Federation, 26 August 2010
  7. "Danielle Brown wins historic Commonwealth Games place", BBC, 24 June 2010
  8. "Paralympian Danielle Brown makes squad for Commonwealth Games", The Guardian, 24 June 2010
  9. "InterviewSarah Storey: From Paralympic swimmer to Commonwealth cyclist", The Guardian, 1 October 2010
  10. "The Paralympian taking on able-bodied athletes", The Independent, 2 October 2010
  11. "Commonwealth Games 2010: England archers win gold", BBC, 7 October 2010
  12. 1 2 3 "Danielle Brown". Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  13. "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 24.
  14. "2013 New Year's Honours" (PDF). Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  15. Hope, Nick (1 September 2013). "BBC Sport – Paralympian Danielle Brown wins first able-bodied British title". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  16. "Archer Danielle Brown ineligible for Paralympic competition". BBC Sport. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  17. "British archer Danielle Brown fails to reverse Paralympic ban verdict". BBC Sport. 18 February 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  18. "DANIELLE BROWN – ARCHERY", English Federation of Disability Sport
  19. "Danielle Brown wins historic Commonwealth Games place", BBC, 24 June 2010
  20. "Paralympian Danielle Brown makes squad for Commonwealth Games", The Guardian, 24 June 2010
  21. "Honorary Graduate 2: Danielle Brown". Leicester University. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  22. "Lord Grocott to officially open University of Leicester sports centres – University of Leicester". .le.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  23. "Olympians Andy Hodge and Danielle Brown are given the freedom of Craven". The Craven Herald and Pioneer. 13 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
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