Larry Godfrey

Lore & Background

Godfrey studied for an HND in Mechanical Manufacturing at the University of the West of England from 1997 to 2000. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, he was the only British male to qualify for the men's tournament. He won his first three elimination matches, then defeated Chen Szu-yuan of Chinese Taipei 110–108 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals he lost 110–108 to Marco Galiazzo of Italy, who went on to win the gold medal. Godfrey then lost the bronze medal match 113–112 to Tim Cuddihy of Australia, finishing fourth overall.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Godfrey ranked 34th with 657 points in the ranking round. He lost his first elimination match 114–109 to Bair Badënov, who later won bronze. In the team event with Simon Terry and Alan Wills, Great Britain ranked fifth after the ranking round (combined 657+670+661) and lost 214–210 to China in the first elimination round; China went on to win bronze.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Godfrey finished fourth in the ranking round with 680 points. He defeated Emdadul Haque Milon of Bangladesh 6–0 in the 1/32 round, then beat Juan Serrano of Mexico 7–1. In the 1/8 round against Khairul Anuar Mohamad of Malaysia, the match was tied 5–5 after five sets; Mohamad won the one-arrow shoot-off and advanced to the quarterfinals, where he lost to Takaharu Furukawa of Japan, who won silver.

Reader's Guide

Godfrey's Olympic career spanned three Games, with his best result a fourth-place finish in the men's individual event at Athens 2004. That performance placed him one match away from a medal, losing the bronze decider by a single point. His consistency is reflected in his ranking round scores: 657 in 2008 and 680 in 2012, the latter placing him fourth in the ranking round. In team competition, he was part of a British squad that lost to eventual bronze medalists China in 2008. His 2012 individual run ended in a shoot-off against a Malaysian archer who later lost to the eventual silver medalist. Godfrey's career illustrates the narrow margins in Olympic archery, where a single point or arrow can separate advancement from elimination.

Did You Know?

• He lost the bronze medal match at the 2004 Olympics by a single point, 113–112.
• At the 2012 Olympics, his match against Khairul Anuar Mohamad was decided by a one-arrow shoot-off after a 5–5 tie.