Danielle Brown
Paralympic gold medalist and able-bodied Commonwealth Games champion archer.
Danielle Brown MBE (born 10 April 1988) is a British archer and children’s author from Steeton, West Yorkshire. She won gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Paralympic Games and also earned medals in able-bodied competitions, including the Commonwealth Games.
Brown made her international debut at the 2006 European Archery Championships for athletes with disabilities in Nymburk, where she reached the semi-finals of the Compound Bow Open Class but lost to Turkey’s Gulbin Su, then dropped the bronze medal match to fellow Briton Melanie Clarke. At the 2007 IPC World Archery Championships in Cheongju, she won individual gold with a score of 114 points, defeating Su in the semi-final and China’s Wang Li in the final. She also helped the British women’s team win gold, beating Japan 221–199.
In 2008, she took silver at the Invitation Disabled Archery Event in Stoke Mandeville, losing to Su in the final, then won Paralympic gold in Beijing by beating Wang, Clarke, and Japan’s Chieko Kamiya 112–98 in the final. She repeated as individual and team world champion in 2009, and in 2010 won three consecutive individual golds: the Arizona Cup, the Stoke Mandeville World Invitational, and the European Para-Archery Championships.
At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, Brown became the first Paralympian to represent England in an able-bodied event, qualifying after finishing second in a selection shoot. She won gold in the Women’s Team Compound event alongside Nicky Hunt and Nichola Simpson, beating Canada 232–229. In 2011, she added an individual world title in Turin, plus silver in the women’s team and mixed team events.
Brown defended her Paralympic gold in London 2012, defeating Mel Clarke in the final. That year she also won the able-bodied Indoor World Cup in Nîmes and a silver at the World Cup Finals in Tokyo. She was appointed MBE in the 2013 New Year Honours and had a postbox painted gold after the London Games. In September 2013, she won the able-bodied British title, beating Lucy O’Sullivan 142–141.
In November 2013, World Archery ruled that Brown could no longer compete in Para-Archery because her disability—complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) in her feet—did not directly and importantly affect her archery performance. Her appeal failed, and from 1 April 2014 she was barred from Para-Archery.
Quick Facts
- Birth Date
- 10 April 1988
- Birth Place
- Steeton, West Yorkshire, England
- Header Color
- lightsteelblue
- Show Medals
- yes
- Medal Templates
- Archery · Paralympic Games / 2008 Beijing · Women's individual compound / 2012 London · Women's individual compound · Commonwealth Games / 2010 Delhi · Women's compound team
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Brown's first international competitive event was at the European Archery Championships (for athletes with disabilities) in Nymburk in 2006, where she reached the semi-finals of the Compound Bow Open Class event, losing the bronze medal match to fellow British competitor Melanie Clarke. In 2007, she won individual and team gold at the IPC World Archery Championships in Cheongju. She won Paralympic gold in Beijing 2008, defeating Chieko Kamiya of Japan in the final (112–98).
Brown represented England in archery at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, becoming the first Paralympian to represent England in an able-bodied event at the Games. She won a gold medal in the Women's Team Compound event alongside Nicky Hunt and Nichola Simpson. In 2012, she won her second successive Paralympic gold, beating GB teammate Mel Clarke in the final at the Royal Artillery Barracks, London. That year she also won the Indoor World Cup in Nimes and a silver medal at the World Cup Finals in Tokyo, both in the able-bodied category.
In November 2013, World Archery announced that Brown would not be able to compete in Para-Archery contests in the future as her disability did not have a direct and important impact on her archery performance. She appealed the ruling, but it was upheld. As of 1 April 2014, she is unable to compete in Para-Archery. Brown has complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) in her feet and competes sitting on a stool.
Reader's Guide
Danielle Brown's career is notable for her success across both Paralympic and able-bodied archery, a rare achievement. She won gold medals at two Paralympic Games (Beijing 2008 and London 2012) and also earned a Commonwealth Games gold medal in the able-bodied women's team compound event in 2010, becoming the first Paralympian to represent England in an able-bodied event at those Games. Her ability to compete and win at the highest level in both categories highlighted her skill and adaptability. Brown also won the able-bodied British title in 2013. Beyond competition, she was appointed MBE in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to archery and had a postbox painted gold after the London Paralympics. Her later career was affected by a World Archery ruling that she could no longer compete in Para-Archery because her disability was not deemed to have a direct and important impact on her archery performance. She subsequently became an award-winning children's author, winning the Sunday Times Children's Sports Book of the Year in 2022 for Run Like a Girl.
Did You Know?
- Brown was a law student at Leicester University at the time of the 2008 Paralympics and achieved first-class honours.
- Leicester University named the Danielle Brown Sports Centre after her on 19 September 2013.
- She was given an honorary degree of Doctors of Laws from the University of Leicester on 25 January 2013.
- Brown won the Sunday Times Children's Sports Book of the Year award in 2022 for her book Run Like a Girl.
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