大象传媒

Over two days next week (18 and 19 June), the top eight British archers will do battle for six places in the Olympic team.

Alan Wills, Larry Godfrey, Simon Terry and Tom Barber are chasing three places in the men's tournament at Beijing, while Alison Williamson, Naomi Folkard, Charlotte Burgess and Emma Downie face the same equation in the women's event.

If you take into account that, for archers, representing your country at the Olympic Games is the ultimate in achievement, then you won't just be able to feel the tension at Lilleshall next week, you'll probably be able to bounce it up and down.

Think penalty shoot-out in a World Cup semi-final, where so much is at stake, then you might just get an idea of how much this Olympic shoot-off means to the eight archers involved.

What will happen is that the top two in each category will qualify automatically, come what may.

The third and final placing will be at the discretion of Team GB's head coach Peter Suk, who I can assure you will make an honest selection based on what he considers to be in the best interests of the team.

As is always the case in sport, there will be winners who are ecstatic, and a loser who will be extremely disappointed.

Perhaps the biggest loser so far in the selection process - and next week's shoot-off will be the third and final one - has been Michael Peart.

I really like Michael - he's a thoroughly nice bloke, and also a very good archer who has competed at the highest level.

Like everyone else, taking part at the Olympics has been his childhood dream, and last week he was one of six men to compete to go through to the final round.

He finished fourth, behind Wills, Terry and Godfrey, but with Suk having the final say on the fourth qualifier, he eventually opted for Barber.

It was a close call, and I do not think for one second that Suk made the decision lightly, but I guess that's what people in his position are paid to do, however hard it sometimes is.

I am sure I'm not the only one that really felt for Michael, but at the same time, Tom is a fantastic young talent - he's still only 16, and it will not be long before he is an international regular.

And even if he misses out this time, I have little doubt that he will be a contender for London 2012.

Once the Olympic squad is finalised, it will be all systems go, and the interest from the media will intensify.

As a minority sport that often struggles for mainstream coverage, this will be most welcome, especially as there are some really good stories to tell - and potential GB medal winners!

It is also a terrific showcase for archery, and if Athens is anything to go by, then we can look forward to another big recruitment surge at clubs throughout the country.

Indeed it was watching the Athens Olympics on television, and following the progress of Godfrey to fourth place in the men's individual tournament, that inspired Mick Beard to take up archery.

Four years on and Mick is now a regular member of the GB Paralympic squad, and in my next blog I should be able to confirm that Mick will be part of an 11-strong squad that will be going to the Paralympics.

There really are some inspirational stories in the British Paralympic team, which I will tell you about in a later blog, and my respect for them all has no limits.

But now I'm heading up to Lilleshall to watch the Olympic shoot-off. I'll keep you posted!