Shooting for the stars: Lancaster archer gearing up to shoot at Paris Olympics

LANCASTER, Pa. (WHTM) – Lancaster’s Casey Kaufhold is ranked as the No. 1 recurve-bow female archer in the world and is preparing to compete in her second Olympic games at just 20 years old.

“When I was only three years old I shot a bow for the first time,” said Kaufhold. “Then I did my first competition when I was eight years old.”

Kaufhold’s parents both have a background in archery; her mom and maternal grandparents all did archery for hunting, her paternal grandfather did archery, and her father is a competitive archer.

After starting so young, Kaufhold ended up being ranked No. 1 in the world for the first time at 19 years old.

“It’s been crazy,” Kaufhold said. “To have put so much work into it and achieve that goal at such a young age, I’m just so grateful.”

Kaufhold was able to compete for Team USA at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Women’s team came in 8th and Kaufhold placed 17th individually.

“It was different than I expected because I had teammates who had been to previous games like Rio and London and they had a very different experience than what happened in Tokyo,” Kaufhold said.

Besides not having spectators, Kaufhold said athletes weren’t allowed to watch other sports or explore the city.

“It was of course still a great Olympic experience, but I’m excited for Paris where we can get more of a normal Olympic experience,” Kaufhold said.

Kaufhold is really looking forward to the women’s team event. She said the women have really improved since the last Olympic games, winning the Pan American Games and Pan Am Championships and placing top five at some international events.

“I think we’ve been improving a lot and I’m excited to see how our women’s team can perform,” Kaufhold said.

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Kaufhold herself has added some awards to her resume since Tokyo.

Kaufhold won a gold medal at the Paris World Cup last year which was the test event for the 2024 Olympics. That competition is her favorite archery memory. Kaufhold said she was against a French archer and the whole stadium was cheering for her competitor, the hometown favorite.

“All I remember is my little group of Team USA standing in the corner doing their best to cheer as loud as they could against the whole crowd,” Kaufhold said.

Kaufhold was able to tune the noise out to take home the gold.

“That was just a cool moment to be, you know maybe not the favorite to win the match, but still push through and make it happen,” Kaufhold said.

To prepare for the Olympics, Kaufhold has been training every day at Lancaster Archery Supply, which is conveniently 15 minutes away from her home. She’s been working with a sports psychologist on controlling competition nerves and practicing breathing techniques to calm her heart rate down.

“I think nerves are a good thing because that means it matters,” Kaufhold said. “When you feel those nerves, it’s a good thing because that means you’re ready to go and this means something.”

Kaufhold’s favorite song to listen to before a competition is ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ by Queen because it reminds her that she’s ready to go, that she can do anything.

“I love Queen, they’re an amazing band and I just love the message that goes along with the song,” Kaufhold said. “It’s like, I’m ready to go, like I’m unstoppable.”

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Right now, Kaufhold is focusing on staying in her “bubble”. She believes that if she can focus on herself and take each shot one at a time, she’ll be able to accomplish her goals.

“You have to think of it in a smaller picture sometimes,” Kaufhold said. “If I shoot one good shot at a time and if I stay in my mental bubble and don’t let all the outside pressures get to me, then I know the result will be there.”

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