Welsh archer celebrates ‘euphoria’ of world championship gold

A blind archer has spoken of the “euphoria” of winning gold at the World Para-Archery Championships in South Korea.

Nick Thomas, 47, from Talysarn in Dyffryn Nantlle, claimed the world title in the visual impairment category in Gwangju, representing Great Britain.

Thomas, who has Stargardt Macular Dystrophy and is registered blind, works as a development officer with the North Wales Society of the Blind in Bangor. He is no stranger to international sport, having previously been a British champion in athletics and played blind football for Wales, but said standing on the podium as world champion felt like no other experience.

‘Top step’

“I said to myself: ‘Nick, you’re the one on the top step this time; in the middle; standing between the other two,’” he recalled. “They announce your name and call you world champion and everyone applauds. You see the gold medal and think, ‘This is for me!’ It’s euphoric – your blood is pumping, your heart is beating, everything comes together.”

Thomas, who is married to Marie and has two children, Cadi and Hari, said the moment was overwhelming. “You feel happy, you feel like pressure has lifted, and strangely you also feel sad and sick. It’s like all the emotions hitting you at once.”

After almost two days of travelling home, he was given a hero’s welcome in his village, with neighbours decorating his house with bunting and Welsh flags. “It was a lovely surprise,” he said.

Fortunate

Despite his disability, Thomas said he considers himself fortunate. “I’ve been lucky enough to represent my country in three different sports – athletics, football and archery. I’ve travelled the world seeing places, all because I was unlucky enough to have a visual impairment. I’ve been lucky to be unlucky.”

His brother-in-law, Tom Hutton, acted as his spotter in South Korea, guiding him on arrow placement during competition.

Looking ahead, Thomas plans a short rest before targeting next year’s European Para-Archery Championships in Rome. “I want to be world champion and European champion at the same time – that’s the next plan,” he said.

Archery is one of South Korea’s national sports and Thomas said the competition was “fierce,” but praised the country’s hospitality. “Everyone was so friendly,” he said.