Hasse Lind - Denmark

Hasse Lind, 25, of Arhus, is the sole Dane competing in Athens. However, he just might be his nation’s best ever medal hope. He followed an excellent eighth at the 2003 world championships (including a 1/8 round win over Korean Park Kyung-Mo, the top-ranked archer in the field after the FITA round) with a silver medal at the 2004 European Championships in Brussels in May. Lind lost the final to Italy’s Marco Galiazzo, after scoring 117 for his 12 arrows in the semi-final.

Lind’s Olympic preparation suffered a blow in July when he dislocated his left shoulder while lifting weights. While painful, the injury was not serious, but it did impact on his 13th placing at the Golden Arrow Grand Prix tournament in Antalya, Turkey, in July.

Lind stayed in Turkey a fortnight after the tournament to train in the hot conditions that Antalya provided. He and his coach Ole Gammelgaard were able to sharpen his technique before Athens.

Lind started shooting in 1992 after reading a sports brochure about archery sent to his school.

"My parents wanted me to play something," he said. "I had tried everything – football, basketball, other sports – then I saw archery. I thought it looked kind of easy so I started doing it." Lind’s first arrow hit the target. He hasn’t looked back since.

His parents and two younger sisters will be in Athens to watch him shoot.