Laura Paeglis

Laura Paeglis’s journey to the Olympics started with Princess Merida, the skilled archer at the centre of the Pixar film Brave.

Laura saw the film as a 10-year-old and was inspired to pick up her own bow.

“I saw the movie Brave and felt so inspired that I decided I wanted to give archery a go,” Laura said.

“My grandpa took me to my first ‘come and try’ day and bought me my first bow. I remember him telling me back then, that one day I could go to the Olympics.”

At just 16, Laura competed at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, where she finished 22nd in the women’s individual competition and 17th in the mixed international team.

Laura has benefited from a Future Talent program developed by the Victorian Institute of Sport and Archery Australia. The program provides athletes with elite coaching and support services.

In August 2023 she made her senior world championships debut in Berlin and finished 57th overall.

Later that year she linked up with Queensland archer Ryan Tyack to win the mixed team Olympic qualifying tournament at the Pacific Games in Solomon Islands, winning a quota spot for Paris 2024.

The pair defeated New Zealand 6-0 in the final to take the win, with the Aussie duo scoring an impressive 110 out of a maximum 120 over their three sets.

The pair were thrilled with the victory, which also ensured an individual male and female quota spot for the Paris Games.

Laura showed no nerves in what was her first Olympic qualification event, shooting 55 out of 60.

“It feels absolutely amazing to win this qualifier,” she said. “The match is a bit of a blur now. I was nervous, but the nerves seemed to power me.”

At the Paris Olympics Laura scored 640 after 12 ends in the women’s individual ranking round, the highest score by an Australian woman since the current 72 arrow ranking round format began at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics. Ranking 44th, she advanced to the elimination round to face Caroline Lopez (FRA) and lost 6-4 to the world number 43.

Laura lives by a simple piece of advice, which she is happy to pass on to upcoming archers: “There are no shortcuts in archery, the only way to achieve success is to work hard.”