Wednesday, August 7, 2024

The "Bringing Home The Bronze" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Opened my Saturday morning newspaper and there, on the front page of the sports section was a photo of Casey Kaufhold who was a nearby Conestoga Valley High School graduate whom I met many years ago.  


Casey teamed with Brady Ellison to finish 3rd in the mixed team event in the Summer Olympics Archery event.  I met Casey when she visited my Uncle's business along the Old Philadelphia Pike, BRW Fuel Co., Inc. many years ago when she was still in either Jr. High or early Sr. High School.  She used to visit BRW since they had a large open space between their business and the train tracks along the Old Philadelphia Pike.  My mom and dad had a garden plot next to BRW Inc. and we would visit from time to time to see my Uncle Bob and work in the neighboring garden.  Casey teamed with Brady to win the team bronze medal by beating India at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.  Even years ago you could tell that Casey was going to be a success in her archery events.  Brady and Casey have been winning medals together for five years in the roles of mentor and student.  Kaufold, a local Conestoga Valley High School graduate was just 15 when she teamed with the veteran Ellison in 2019 to earn silver at a World Cup event and gold at the Pan-American Games.  Well, they did it once again, defeating Anika Bharat and Dhiraj Bommadevara of India 6-2 to claim Olympic bronze in the mixed team category this past Friday in Paris.  It's been a perfect pairing for Allison, 35 and Kaufhold, 20.  Ellison has touted Kaufhold's exceptional raw talent while Kaufhold has appreciated Ellison's skill and encouragement.  "He is my rock," Kaufhold said. "Any nerves I had, he talked me through every single moment.  I couldn't ask for a better mixed team partner.  He's brought so much wisdom into my archery.  I can't thank him enough for everything."  Thought Kaufhold became the first American woman to medal since the United States earned a team title in 1988, she expected a bit more in Paris.  She entered the Games ranked No. 1 in the world in the individual category, but failed to reach the semifinals.  She said that things turned out the say they did for a reason.  "When I walked off the stage yesterday (Thursday) feeling like I didn't perform to my fullest potential, I felt that there was still a place for me to do it here," she said.  I woke up today and felt like today's the day for a medal."  Ellison said that's the kind of resilience he's come to expect from his teammate.  "She was upset yesterday after the individuals, and to come out here and prove that's she's a champion -- she completely switched, shot great today and we came away with a medal," he said.  It just goes to show her mental toughness and her skill."  It is Elllison's fourth career medal in five Olympic trips.  He became the first American archer to win four medals and he still has a shot at an individual medal on Sunday.  Ellison said the rest of the world focuses on individual honors, but he enjoys winning team medals most because he get to share the monment.  He used Friday's result takes pressure off heading into Sunday.  "Going into the individual -- I've come away with a meal from here, and I'm just going to go shoot and see what happens," he aid.  "I don't have to push or anything now.  I'm an Olympic medalist again."  Kaufhold and Ellison, who qualified fourth, opened Friday with  6-0 victory over Uzbekistan's Ziyodakhon Abdusattorovan and Ziyodaknon Abdusattorova and Amirkhon Sadikov, winning 6-0.  In the quarterfinals, the Americans defeated Junya Nakonishi and Satsuma Noda of Japan 5-3.  That advanced them to th semifinals against Germany's Michelle Kroppen and foreign Unruh, which Kaufold and Ellison lost 5-3.  In the first set, Ellisson picked up two 10s and Kaufhold nailed one on the last shot for a 39-38 win.  The two state hot in the second, opening with back-to-back 10s.  But Kroppen and Unruh each hit 10s on their second series, and a 9-8 combo from the U.S. gave the Germans a 38-37 win.  Both sides were essentially even in the third set, eventually tying 37-37 to go to a potential winner-take-all fourth.  There, the Germans opened with a pair of 10s, while Kaufhod and Ellison only notched 8s.  Kroppen and Unruh clinched the match with a 9 and 10 to win 39-34.  In the bronze medal match, the U.S. duo turned in a 10 and a 9 each to take. the first set 38-37, as an opening 7 from Bharat derailed three 10s in a row of India.  Bharat again shot a 7 to start the second, and two 10s from Ellison was enough to push the U.S. to a 37-35 win.  India rebounded in the third, putting up a 10 and a 9 each for a 38-33 victory.  In the end, some slip-ups for India in the fourth set opened the door for Kaufhold and Ellison to linch the match and the medal.  They both shot 9s, with Kaufhold getting the emphatic final shot for the 37-35 win and then the 6-2 victory.  South Korea rolled past Germany 6-0 in the gold-medal match to win the category for the second straight Olympics.  Kim Woo-jin and Lim Sit-yeon already won gold medals in the team men's and women's events, respectively.  Kaufhold was competing in her second Olympics, after also qualifying in for the 2021 Games in Tokyo.  It was another extraordinary  day in the life of an ordinary guy.    

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