Team Canada archers ready to take aim at Tokyo 2020
Crispin Duenas and Stephanie Barrett have their target in sight for this summer – the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
They will compete individually and together, joining forces in the first Olympic mixed team event.
Barrett will be making her Olympic debut in Tokyo. She qualified following her second-place finish at the American Continental Qualifier event in Monterrey, Mexico earlier this year.
Barrett got her start in archery just five years ago and has quickly climbed the ranks. In 2018, she was crowned Canadian champion, just two years after a picking up a bow and arrow for the first time. Since then, she’s represented Canada at the Lima 2019 Pan Am Games and other international competitions.
In March, she placed fifth at the Pan American Championships. She followed that up in May by tying the Canadian record for the highest score ever by a Canadian woman in an international event when she shot 652 at a World Cup in Lausanne, Switzerland.
“Competing at the Olympic Games for Team Canada has been a dream since I was very young,” said Barrett. “With all the hard work and the love and support of so many amazing people, that dream will finally become reality this year in Tokyo. It has been an honour wearing the maple leaf and I’m thrilled to be able to represent Canada and compete for a sport on the podium!”
Duenas brings plenty of experience to the table as he heads to his fourth consecutive Olympic Games. A national team member for nearly two decades, Duenas has also competed at 12 World Archery Championships and four Pan American Games. At Lima 2019, he won the men’s individual recurve gold medal, adding to the individual silver he won at Guadalajara 2011.
Crispin Duenas of Canada competes in the men’s recurve final at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games on Sunday, August 11, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, COC, Christopher Morris 
Crispin Duenas of of Canada competes to win the gold medal in the men’s archery recurve individual final against Marcus Dalmeida at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2019. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
One of Duenas’ biggest career highlights came at the 2013 World Archery Championships where his bronze was Canada’s first world medal in the individual recurve event in 42 years. He reached a career-high world ranking in June 2014 when he broke into the top five.
“It’s an honour to have been selected to my fourth Olympic Games,” Duenas said. “The training and dedication put in over the past five years are really showing, and I’m glad to have a reliable teammate like Stephanie to shoot the first-ever Olympic mixed team competition.”
Crispin Duenas of of Canada celebrates winning the gold medal in the men’s archery recurve individual final against Marcus Dalmeida at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2019. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) 
Crispin Duenas of Canada wins gold in the men’s recurve at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games on Sunday, August 11, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, COC, Christopher Morris
Duenas and Barrett have some history with the mixed team event, finishing fourth together at the 2019 Pan Am Games.
Archery at Tokyo 2020 will take place at Yumenoshima Park. Competition begins on July 23, the day of the Opening Ceremony, with the individual ranking rounds for men and women. The mixed team event will be on July 24. The elimination rounds of the men’s and women’s individual events begin July 27 and continue through July 31.
Canada has not yet won an Olympic medal in archery. The country’s best result came at Montreal 1976 when Lucille Lemay finished fifth in the women’s individual competition.
Team Canada Archery Athletes at Tokyo 2020:
Stephanie Barrett (Mississauga, ON) – Women’s Individual Recurve and Mixed Team
Crispin Duenas (Scarborough, ON) – Men’s Individual Recurve and Mixed Team
