Simon Fairweather - Australia

Sydney 2000 champion Simon Fairweather is the only man competing in Athens who has won an Olympic gold medal and an individual world title (which he won in 1991). In Athens, he is aiming to be the first archer ever to successfully defend an Olympic title.

Fairweather, 34, is competing in his fifth Olympics in Athens. He retired from competition in 2002, but returned in late 2003 and was a star of Australia’s Olympic selection trials.

Since returning, Fairweather has helped Australia to team wins at two of the three Grand Prix tournaments this season: the German Grand Prix in June and the Golden Arrow Grand Prix in July. Surprisingly, however, he has not advanced past the first round of any of the Grand Prix individual tournaments.

He is enjoying life on the road with his two young team-mates.

"At times there’s a bit of a generation gap," he said. "I mean, until a couple of months ago, you could put Timmy’s and Dave’s ages together and get mine!

"We get on really well as a team. There is a mutual respect there. I can enjoy some of their humour, while at the same time I can keep a bit of space when we are not competing. It’s hard to really argue with the results we are getting."

In April, Fairweather married Jackie Gallagher, a former world triathlon and duathlon champion for Australia. The pair live in Canberra, where he trains at the Australian Institute of Sport, the same institution where his wife is the head coach of the Australian triathlon team.

Gallagher has switched to marathon running in recent years and only missed the Australian qualifying time for Athens by 40 seconds. Fairweather credits her with his decision to return to archery – he had hoped they would compete together in Athens.

A keen runner, Fairweather sometimes joins his wife on runs up to 30km. He aims to train for a marathon after Athens.

Beyond becoming an overnight hero in Australia with his gold medal win, Fairweather was also the subject of one of Sydney 2000’s most celebrated photos. The close-up image of him in his reflecting sunglasses – which reflected both the crowds and the targets in the lenses – remains a famous image. This time, his sunglasses have been fitted with special prescription lenses to correct astigmatism.

Fairweather helped to arrange for the archery team, both men and women, to do their final preparation for Athens at Aix Les Bains in France. It is the town where his wife is coaching the Australian Olympic triathlon team for Athens.