Joseph Connor Langston drew his bow taught, staring down the line of his arrow. He held firm for several seconds, eyeing the bright target across the indoor arena before letting his arrow fly.
Langston, 18, is practicing in preparation for the upcoming archery Gator Cup. The event, set to be held May 10 to 12, will draw hundreds of archers to the Easton Newberry Archery Center to compete.
The Gator Cup will also host the final stages of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic archery trials for the Summer 2024 Olympic Games. Across the state, sports enthusiasts, officials and organizers are preparing for the global competition.
Langston will only be competing in the U-21 recreational division of the Gator Cup with about 50 others of his age group but said it’s exciting to challenge himself during the competition. Archery requires a lot of repetition and consistency, he said, which makes it interesting when outside factors come into play.
“It’s just fun to do,” Langston said. “It’s entertaining sometimes with the wind.”
This will be the Easton Newberry Archery Center’s fifth time hosting either the Olympic or Paralympic trials, the center’s national programs manager Robert Regojo said. Gator Cup will host roughly 1,000 archers throughout the competition, ranging in age from 12 to 80, he added.
After the initial Gator Cup competition, the Easton center will host the Olympic and Paralympic trials on May 13 and 14. Throughout the week of the event, the center expects to host at least 25,000 people, Regojo said.
Besides competing archers, the Gator Cup will also draw vendors, archery enthusiasts and curious spectators. First-timers who are interested in archery will have opportunities at the event to sign up for future lessons, center manager Jerry Dudley said.
The stress of hosting the Olympic and Paralympic trials is balanced with the excitement of the event, Dudley added. About a dozen volunteers, both students and residents, usually come together to help out during the Gator Cup.
“It is like a boot camp week,” Dudley said. “We’re able to get the job done with a nice handful of people.”
Florida hosted the U.S. Olympic sailing trials in January, followed by the marathon trials on Feb. 3 in Orlando. Stephanie McGrail, 37, attended the marathon qualifier along with other members of the Gainesville-based Team Florida Track Club (FTC).
The marathon community is relatively small, McGrail said, which made the Orlando event exciting. Spectators clapped, rang cowbells and cheered for the runners during the marathon. Even though the races lasted nearly three hours, the excitement never wavered, McGrail said.
“All the big names were in one spot, which I think is just really cool for distance runners,” she said. “We don’t get a lot of big coverage for that.”
Harlie Bassitt, another member of Team FTC, found it inspiring to watch the Olympic qualifiers race. Bassitt, 25, has been running the marathon for about four years, and said she enjoyed getting to hear the interesting backstories behind some of the competitors.
Training partners Connor Mantz and Clayton Young finished first and second in the men’s qualifiers, with merely a second separating their respective times. Bassitt was especially impressed by runner Maegan Krifchin, who ran the marathon seven months pregnant.
At their spot 200 meters from the finish line, Team FTC watched the top three runners from the men’s and women’s marathon snag the qualifying spots.
“They were kind of taking it in at that point,” Bassitt said. “It was really cool to see them at the finish line.”
Although the life of an Olympic or Paralympic athlete may seem glamorous, it often comes with hidden stressors, UF Health sports medicine physician Kevin Vincent said. Not all athletes have a sponsor, Vincent said, which means they don’t always have a high annual salary. As a result, some athletes don’t have access to the specialized healthcare they need, he added.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Medical Network, a national program, gives qualifying athletes access to top-quality care, Vincent said. UF Health was invited in September to join the medical network and provide care to Team USA.
Vincent himself was selected to attend the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, he said, while UF Health physician Jason Zaremski will care for athletes at the Olympics. Through his experience, Vincent said he hopes to open more doors for UF Health to become more involved in the Olympic medical network.
“It’s humbling, but it’s an honor for me to then represent UF,” Vincent said.
Much of Vincent’s work in the Olympic and Paralympic sphere is psychological rather than physical care, he said. When an athlete gets injured, they often feel immense pressure to get back to their peak. The physician becomes the voice of reason, Vincent said, making sure the athlete puts their physical health before their athletic performance.
“I sometimes end up protecting them from themselves,” Vincent said.
Before the Olympics and Paralympics take place in the summer, officials, experts and athletes are preparing months in advance. As the qualifying trials continue, Florida is also set to host the Paralympic triathlon in Miami in March, as well as the Olympic rowing trials in Sarasota in April.