Lindsey Carmichael facts for kids
Carmichael during bronze medal match, 2008
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Lindsey Ann Carmichael | |||||||||||||
| Born | July 22, 1985 (age 39) San Antonio, Texas, U.S. |
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Medal record
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Lindsey Ann Carmichael (born July 22, 1985, in San Antonio, Texas) is an amazing archer. She won a bronze medal at the Paralympic Games.
Contents
Early Life and Challenges
Lindsey spent her early years in Uvalde, Texas. Later, she moved to Austin and then Lago Vista, Texas. She went to middle and high school there.
When Lindsey was four, she was diagnosed with McCune-Albright syndrome. This is a rare bone condition. It made her bones weak and caused many fractures. She broke her leg, hip, and arm several times.
Because of her condition, Lindsey sometimes needed body casts, crutches, or a wheelchair. Doctors even put strong steel and titanium rods in her leg bones. This helped make them stronger.
Starting Archery
When Lindsey was 13, she was in middle school. She was talking to a friend about not having many sports options for students in wheelchairs. Her math teacher overheard them. He suggested she try archery.
Lindsey started practicing archery at Archery Country JOAD. JOAD stands for "Junior Olympic Archery Development." It is a program for young archers. She practiced every week and quickly became very good.
Archery Achievements
Lindsey set many records in her age group. She competed against both able-bodied archers and archers with disabilities. She set records at the Texas State level, across the U.S., and even world records.
In December 2002, Lindsey had a long surgery. Doctors moved bone from one leg to another. She broke her hip during this time and had to learn to walk again. But just a few months later, she competed in a U.S. national tournament!
In 2003, Lindsey started representing the United States. She competed in international tournaments. She won a spot for the U.S. at the 2004 Paralympics in Madrid, Spain.
Athens Paralympics Success
Lindsey competed at the Athens Paralympics in 2004. She set a world record during the qualifying round. She scored 603 points out of a possible 720. This was for shooting at a target 70 meters away.
She finished 6th in Athens as a standing female recurve archer. This was a great achievement.
Continued Training
After Athens, Lindsey kept competing. In April 2005, she was ranked 8th among all adult able-bodied women recurve archers in the U.S. She also finished 2nd at the Texas Shootout tournament.
While studying at the University of Texas, she continued to represent the U.S. She went to competitions in Korea, Slovakia, and England.
She earned "All-American" status in archery in 2006 and 2007. This means she was one of the best college archers. In 2006, she finished 5th in the National Archery Championship US Open.
Beijing Paralympics Bronze Medal
In 2008, Lindsey competed for the U.S. at the Summer Paralympics in Beijing. She won a bronze medal! She shot a score of 105 out of 120. This was the highest women's recurve score that day.
This was a big moment for U.S. archery. Lindsey was the first U.S. female archer to win an individual medal since 1996. During her time in Beijing, she wrote a blog called "Rings and Arrows."
College Life and Beyond
Lindsey returned to the University of Texas. She studied English and History. She continued to shoot archery and coached new archers at the UT Archery Club.
She also wrote several 50,000-word novels during the National Novel Writing Month project. In 2011, she received the "Dean's Distinguished Graduate Award." This award is given to outstanding students.
After Retirement from Archery
After retiring from competitive archery, Lindsey taught private archery lessons for three years. She was a certified Level III Coach. She also held seminars to teach others archery techniques.
In 2014, she stopped coaching to work as a Program Coordinator. She worked for the Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering.
Lindsey is also a motivational speaker. She shares her story at schools, colleges, and events for groups like Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. She also speaks to Wounded Warriors.
Writing Career
Lindsey's short stories and poems have been published in magazines like Analecta and Hothouse.
In 2023, her short story "Marit the Resolute" was chosen for an anthology called Traveling Light. This book is expected to be published in summer 2024.
See also
In Spanish: Lindsey Carmichael para niños
