By Eleanor Gee

“I aim to perform up to my best, I can't control my opponent but I can control how I perform and hopefully that’s enough to get through a few matches,” said Arne Jensen (18) who is representing Tonga at the Rio Olympics in archery.

Training six days a week for 4 – 6 hours per day leading up to Rio, Arne is Tonga’s second archer at the Olympics with Lusi Tatafu the female archer. Both 18 years of age, the pair are marking Tonga’s return to archery at the Games after a 12 year hiatus. Lusi is the first Tongan female archer and Arne the second male archer.  Tonga's first archer was Sifa Taumoepeau who attended the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Arne Jensen was born in Tauranga, New Zealand and raised in Tonga where he went to Ocean of Light School.

“When I was young I used to play with a lot of wood and try and make bows and one day ...I heard about the archery range and I decided to go and give it a try. And I kinda just…I don’t know, I fell for the sport and I liked it. It worked. I stuck with it,” he told a World Archery Fan Reporter.

He said “there’s one club in Tonga and one coach in Tonga..and it wasn’t that easy.”

“My first coach was [Sifa Taumoepeau]….he shot in Athens Olympics and he shot really well. He started me out really well and if it wasn’t for him, I would not be here today.”

His dad Hans Jensen says that Arne is physically strong and very motivated.

“He loves to shoot. I think that’s probably his greatest force, that it is never a problem to get him to training. It’s a problem to get him away from training.”

Dream come true

At 15 years of age, Arne said his goal was to make it to the Olympics. And at 18 years of age, his dream has come true.

Arne took up archery when he was 11 years old in 2009. He won his first gold medal in the under 12 FITA, New Zealand Archery Championship in 2010 and continued to dominate the New Zealand Championship in his age group winning 3 gold and 1 silver.

He started competing in the world circuit in 2011 attending the Youth World Championships in Poland, and was the youngest participant at that event. When he was 15 years old, Arne attended his second Youth World Championship.

His medal tally grew with a bronze medal at the Oceania Championship in 2012 and he won two silver and a gold medal at the Danish Championship in 2014 and 2015. At the Youth Commonwealth Games in 2015, Arne came close to winning bronze but was just edged out by New Zealand.

He won gold at the Oceania Championship in Tonga earlier this year in the Recurve Junior Men category and also won another gold at the East Danish Championship this year bringing his total international medal tally to 3 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze.

Arne was selected to represent Tonga at the Olympics when Tonga won two spots in the Olympic Qualifier at the Oceania Championship for one female and one male archer. The qualification came with conditions that the male archer had to shoot 630 points or more prior to July 11 this year.

He will take part in Tonga's first event on Saturday, 6 August 2016 (NZ time) in the Archery preliminary ranking rounds before the opening ceremony.

Scholarship

When asked if he had to raise funds for the Olympics, Arne said he “wasn’t able to fundraise due to being overseas training and etc., but my Olympic Scholarship helped”.

The Olympic Scholarship offered by Olympic Solidarity helps to develop and offer high-quality programmes to all National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and athletes, with a particular focus on those with the greatest needs.

For elite athletes to qualify, they must be selected and proposed by their respective NOCs in their preparation and qualification for the Olympic games.

Arne said he is grateful for all the support he has received from everyone.

“I have been supported by TASA, Ministry of Sports, World Archery, Olympic Solidarity and my family and would like to thank them in particular for believing in me and helping me reach where I am today.”

Arne’s hobbies when he isn’t shooting arrows include photography, design and carpentry/woodwork and he occasionally plays touch rugby.