To have a chance of becoming New Zealand’s first Olympic recurve woman since Faye Johnstone at Barcelona 1992, Harrison needs to compete at a minimum number of World Cup stages should the country secure a quota place.
Due to budget constraints, Shanghai is her only stage this year, but the Christchurch resident is aiming to attend three or four next season.
Months before flying to China, Harrison started a Givealittle page to help cover costs for herself and coach James Gaze, setting a USD 7000 target. So far, she has raised USD 2270.
“I work full time, I have a mortgage, I have all of the bills that come with that, and I thought the funds were a little bit dicey coming here,” said Harrison. “So I thought I’d reach out to people and try and see if I can get some support from others because we don’t get so much support.”
“Being a small country, we don’t have much sponsorship for the sport. It would be really, really nice if people helped me to get here, but I can make it on my own.”
Working full time as a software engineer has also impacted Harrison’s training in previous years, but coming into Shanghai she has managed to rearrange her working hours to increase her arrow count and consistency.
Even that small boost, though, does not reduce the challenges she faces as an archer in the southern hemisphere.
