From the University of Warwick to the Olympic stage: In conversation with Tom Hall

In 2010, Tom Hall had just begun his second year at the University of Warwick. After trying “a lot of different sports” in his first year, Hall took a trip to the Sports Fair during Welcome Week in the hope of finding “something new to do”. Prior experience shooting in cadets led him to search for a shooting society and on the way, he stumbled upon archery; he thought, “They’ve got cool t-shirts, we’ll give it a go”.  

Fourteen years later, Hall spent the summer in Paris as an archer competing for Team GB at the Olympic Games. Following this, the two-time Olympian, international medallist, and Warwick alumna spoke to The Boar Sport about his experiences with archery.  

In total, 128 archers competed at Paris 2024 and Hall finished in 9th place in his competition

In total, 128 archers competed at Paris 2024 and Hall finished in 9th place in his competition. Hall shared the top finishing place out of Team GB’s archers with Megan Havers, a first-time Olympian and 16-year-old athlete. 

Hall describedarchery at the Olympics as being “much like any other competition except it’s spread out over more days”. The first qualifying round sees archers shoot 72 arrows, then shorter matches of about 15 minutes occur.  

The Wednesday afternoon of Hall’s competition in Paris was his highlight. It saw his “first couple of rounds of individual matches” and he described the Team GB archers as having one of those “magic moments”, they had three people shooting “really well”. 

Outside of competing, Hall’s favourite moment of the Games was the opening ceremony

Outside of competing, Hall’s favourite moment of the Games was the opening ceremony. He said: “It came across a bit mixed on the TV, perhaps, but just being on the boats is something that really sticks with you”. This echoed the words of Olympic climber Joshua Bruyns, a current University of Warwick student who spoke to The Boar Sport earlier on this year. Bruyns spoke about “absorbing the atmosphere” whilst “being on the boat” down the River Seine but also mentioned the criticism of the opening ceremony from a “spectator standpoint”. 

Living in the Olympic Village is something which Hall described as being unable to understand “until you’ve lived through it”. Hall said that the Paris village contained “streams of people everywhere” which was a dramatic contrast to his experiences at the Tokyo Olympics which occurred under strict COVID restrictions. Hall mentioned the uncertain atmosphere surrounding Tokyo and how having supporters in Paris made an “unreal” difference. 

Hall said that he likes “to think that the Olympics was like fantasy land”

Further discussion surrounding the fans at the 2024 Games saw Hall express his belief that the Olympics “restores your faith in humanity”. He said: “In the media, there is so much news about people not getting on and conflict but for a little moment…it didn’t matter who you were or what country you came from, people were just delighted to see you”. He emphasised how that was “magical” and that he likes “to think that the Olympics was like fantasy land”. 

Another element of the magic of the Olympics is the opportunity to interact with some of the world’s most prolific athletes. Hall spoke on getting in the lift with Andy Murray and having a chat with him “fairly regularly”. He also spent time “hanging out with swimmers and hockey players”. 

The staff behind Team GB’s archery squad also found themselves in a “competition of who they could get to send good luck messages”. This resulted in a video from Chris Hoy and Freddie Stewart amongst others.  

Hall said that having a “niche sport” like archery get intense “attention can be overwhelming”

Throughout the Games, all sports receive high levels of attention from fellow athletes but also from the media. Hall said that having a “niche sport” like archery get intense “attention can be overwhelming”. 

Preparation for the Olympics was “intense” in a different way from the Games itself. Hall spent most training days shooting or doing technical work before a gym visit. He commented on how “the easy improvements have long since dried up, so it takes a lot longer to learn anything new or make any little improvements”. 

The archery calendar is also changing, competitions are getting “more tightly packed” together with world ranking growing in importance. This means that athletes were “incentivised to do more competitions” as a part of the Paris 2024 qualifying process. 

If Tom Hall can teach you anything, it’s to give everything a go because you never know where it could take you, who knows maybe one day you’ll end up competing on the world’s biggest sporting stages

Having taken up archery during his time studying at the University of Warwick, Hall had become used to having a packed schedule. He “absolutely loved” balancing training and university studies as it gave him another sense of “progression and purpose”. The archery society’s Tuesday morning sessions, which occurred during Hall’s time at university, were nicknamed “sacred Tuesday mornings” because he began his day “shooting and being with friends at the club” 

Hall would encourage all University of Warwick students to get involved with a sports society. He said: “all the clubs are really wellset up to take on beginners” and to not “overthink it”. Furthermore, he said: “Don’t go with too much of an agenda because I never intended to get to where I got to”.  

If Tom Hall can teach you anything, it’s to give everything a go because you never know where it could take you, who knows maybe one day you’ll end up competing on the world’s biggest sporting stages.