Lindsey Carmichael
Paralympic bronze medalist and world-record-holding recurve archer.
Lindsey Ann Carmichael was born on July 22, 1985, in San Antonio, Texas, and grew up in Uvalde before moving to Austin and later Lago Vista, where she attended middle and high school. At age four, she was diagnosed with McCune–Albright syndrome, which led to multiple fractures in her leg, hip, and arm, along with surgeries to address the condition. She used body casts, crutches, and a wheelchair at different times, and eventually had steel and titanium rods placed in her femurs and tibias.
Her archery career began at age 13, when a middle school math teacher overheard her telling a friend about the lack of PE options for students in wheelchairs. He suggested she try archery, and she started shooting weekly at Archery Country JOAD (Junior Olympic Archery Development). Over the years, she set numerous records in her age group, competing both as a nondisabled archer and as an archer with disabilities, achieving state, national, and world records.
In December 2002, she underwent a 16-hour surgery at the Rochester Mayo Clinic to shift 2.5 centimeters of bone from one femur to the other, during which she suffered a hip fracture and had to relearn how to walk. Just months later, she competed in a U.S. national tournament, finishing 47th out of 71 archers. She began representing the United States internationally in 2003 at the International Paralympic Championships in Madrid, Spain, where she earned a spot for the U.S. at the 2004 Paralympics.
At the 2004 Athens Paralympics, she set a world record of 603 out of 720 during the qualifying round, shooting at a 122-centimeter target from 70 meters, and finished sixth as a standing female recurve archer. On April 1, 2005, she ranked eighth among all adult nondisabled women recurve archers in the U.S. and placed second at the Texas Shootout as a nondisabled female senior recurve. She continued competing while attending the University of Texas, double-majoring in English and history, and represented the U.S. at competitions in Korea, Slovakia, and England. She earned All-American and Academic All-American honors as an archer in 2006 and 2007, and placed fifth in the 2006 National Archery Championship U.S. Open as a nondisabled archer.
At the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, she won a bronze medal with a score of 105 out of 120, the highest women’s recurve score of the day. This was the first individual medal for a U.S.
Quick Facts
- Full Name
- Lindsey Ann Carmichael
- Birth Date
- July 22, 1985
- Birth Place
- San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
- Header Color
- lightsteelblue
- Show Medals
- yes
- Medal Templates
- Women's archery · Paralympic Games / 2008 Beijing · Ind. recurve standing
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Lindsey Carmichael was diagnosed at age 4 with McCune–Albright syndrome, which caused numerous bone fractures and required surgeries, body casts, crutches, and a wheelchair at various times. Her femurs and tibias were eventually rodded with steel and titanium. At age 13, while in middle school, a math teacher overheard her discussing the lack of PE options for students in wheelchairs and suggested archery. She began shooting at Archery Country JOAD (Junior Olympic Archery Development) on a weekly basis.
Carmichael set numerous records in her age group at the Texas state, U.S. national, and world levels, competing in both nondisabled and disabled categories. In December 2002, she underwent a 16-hour surgery to shift 2.5 cm of bone from one femur to the other, suffered a hip fracture, and had to learn to walk again; she competed in a U.S. national tournament just months later, finishing 47th of 71 archers. She represented the United States internationally starting in 2003 at the International Paralympic Championships in Madrid, where she won a slot for the 2004 Paralympics.
At the 2004 Athens Paralympics, she set a world record of 603 out of 720 during the qualifying round and finished 6th as a standing female recurve archer. In 2008 at the Beijing Paralympics, she won a bronze medal with a score of 105 out of 120, the highest women's recurve score of the day. During the Beijing Games, she kept a blog called Rings and Arrows.
Reader's Guide
Lindsey Carmichael's significance lies in her achievements as a Paralympic medalist and world-record holder while competing across both disabled and nondisabled categories. Her bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics marked the first individual medal for a U.S. female archer since Susan Hagel's bronze in 1996. She set a world record of 603 at the 2004 Athens Paralympics and was ranked 8th among all adult nondisabled women recurve archers in the United States in 2005. Beyond competition, she earned All-American and Academic All-American status at the University of Texas in 2006 and 2007, and was a Dean's Distinguished Graduate Award recipient in 2011. After retiring from the sport, she became a USA Archery Level III Coach, offering private lessons and certifying other coaches, until she accepted a full-time nonprofit position in 2014. Her legacy includes demonstrating that an athlete with a significant disability could excel at the highest levels of both Paralympic and nondisabled archery.
Did You Know?
- She completed several 50,000-word novels during National Novel Writing Month while at the University of Texas.
- She was certified as a Level III Coach in the National Training System designed by US Olympic Head Coach Kisik Lee.
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