Simon Duncan Terry (27 March 1974 – July 2021) was a British archer from

Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...

in Lincolnshire, England.

Early life

Terry was born on 27 March 1974 in

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

, the son of Mike and Janice Terry. With the help of his father, Terry first began practising archery when he was eight years old. At the age of nine he won his first competition. At the time of the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

, Terry was an unemployed roofer.

1992 Summer Olympics

Having started archery at the age of eight, Simon made his Games debut in 1992 aged 18, where he became the first British man to collect an individual medal at the Olympics since its reintroduction in 1988 by taking third place. A second medal, a bronze in the men's team event, followed at the same Games. He retired from the sport for the first time shortly afterwards.

Comeback

After 13 years of retirement from archery, Terry began shooting again in the year it was announced that London would host the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, and soon achieved high placings in major international events including the team gold at the World Cup 2007, stage two, in

Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

, and an individual fourth place at the World Outdoor Championships in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, Germany being beaten by his teammate Alan Wills in a thrilling tie break where he scored a nine, and Wills took the bronze with a 10. Another one of his successes was at the fourth stage of the 2007 World Cup in

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

, England, when he was victorious against the young Mexican archer, Juan René Serrano. Serrano scored an eight in the tie and Terry scored a nine. His success saw Terry selected for the 2008 Summer Olympics, four years ahead of his original schedule, and 16 years after his double medal-winning debut.

2008 Summer Olympics

At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

in Beijing Terry finished his ranking round with a total of 670 points, nine points behind leader Juan René Serrano. This gave him the seventh seed for the final competition bracket in which he faced Matti Hatava in the first round. Hatava was only the 58th seed, but managed to beat Terry with 105–104. Together with Wills and

Larry Godfrey Laurence Paul Godfrey (born 9 June 1976, in Bristol) is a British archer. He studied for an HND in Mechanical Manufacturing at the University of the West of England from 1997 to 2000. 2004 Summer Olympics Godfrey was the only British male t ...

he also took part in the team event. With his 670 score from the ranking round combined with the 661 of Wills and the 657 of Godfrey the British were in fifth position after the ranking round. In the first elimination round they faced the Chinese team and got eliminated with 214–210. The Chinese went on to win the bronze medal.

2012 Summer Olympics

Gaining selection for his home Games at the age of 38, at the

Terry reached the last 32, losing to

Dan Olaru Dan Olaru (born 11 November 1996) is a Moldovan archer. At the 2012 Summer Olympics he competed for his country in the Men's individual event. He went on to represent his country again at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in the Men's individual event, ...

. In the team event, Great Britain lost to Ukraine in the last 16. His third Olympic Games would also prove to be his final international event, as he retired for the second time.

Personal

Terry died in July 2021 at his home at the age of 47. He had been fighting an aggressive form of cancer. He was survived by his wife, the former international archer Emma Terry. As of 2024 he remains the only British male archer to win an individual Olympic archery medal since its reintroduction as an Olympic sport in 1972.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Terry, Simon 1974 births 2021 deaths Sportspeople from Stirling Sportspeople from Grantham Archers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Archers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Archers at the 2012 Summer Olympics British male archers Olympic archers for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in archery Scottish Olympic competitors Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Archers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games