Stephanie Barrett

Lore & Background

Stephanie Barrett began practising archery in 2016, a few weeks before the 2016 Summer Olympics. She came first in the Canadian Field and Target Championships in 2018. At the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, she finished tied for 17th in the individual recurve, tied fifth for team, and fourth in the mixed team. In March 2021, at the Pan American Archery Championships in Monterrey, Mexico, she won silver and claimed one of three available quota places for the 2020 Summer Olympics in the women's individual recurve. She was officially nominated to the team on May 12, 2021. A week later at the World Cup stop in Lausanne, Switzerland, Barrett scored a 652 in the qualification round, the highest ever by a Canadian woman in an international competition. At the Olympics in July 2021, she ranked #46 out of 64 with a score of 630; she and Crispin Duenas did not have a high enough combined score to qualify for the mixed team event. She lost her individual match with Yasemin Anagoz 6–2.

Reader's Guide

Stephanie Barrett's significance lies in her rapid ascent in archery after taking up the sport at age 37, just weeks before the 2016 Summer Olympics. Within two years she won the Canadian Field and Target Championships, and by 2021 she had set the highest qualification score ever by a Canadian woman in an international competition (652 at the World Cup stop in Lausanne, Switzerland). She secured an Olympic quota place for Canada at the 2021 Pan American Archery Championships, winning silver, and competed in the women's individual recurve at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Her career demonstrates that late entry into the sport can still yield national and international achievement, including a Pan American Games mixed team fourth-place finish and a top-50 Olympic ranking.

Did You Know?

• She scored 652 in the qualification round at the 2021 World Cup stop in Lausanne, the highest ever by a Canadian woman in an international competition.
• She won silver at the 2021 Pan American Archery Championships in Monterrey, Mexico, earning an Olympic quota place.