Katherine Wu ‘18 is one of 36 members of the Archery Junior Dream Team, which is comprised of the most promising cadet recurve archers in the country. She often trains at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California with the U.S. Olympic Archery head coach. Wu has represented the U.S. at international tournaments; most recently last spring in Ankara, Turkey, where she placed 9th at the World Indoor Archery Championships. She went head-to-head with archers from Italy, Taipei, and India, and beat the fifth seeded competitor to place 9th.
“Archery requires a lot of concentration,” says Wu. “It’s fun, relaxing, and it pushes me to improve. You’re hitting a target the size of an iPhone from half a football field away.”
Wu started archery in July 2013 with a private coach in Berkeley. Afterwards, she joined Joy Lee Archery Academy, which was founded by the Olympic head coach’s wife. She was selected to the Junior Dream Team in 2015 and has been training with them since.
She is currently one of the top ten archers in the nation for the cadet (15 – 17) age group. She competed in the first out of three stages for the Olympic trials for Rio.
Wu also plays the guzheng, a traditional Chinese stringed-instrument, which she says connects her to her Chinese heritage. She has performed at the Summer Palace in Beijing and the Asian Art Museum among other places. She also participated with the China Dance School, which specializes in traditional and folk dances. Wu says that dance improves her balance and posture, both of which are critical to her archery skills.
Photo courtesy of Katherine Wu
Wu plans to participate in archery for the foreseeable future. She continues to increase her poundage, the amount of force required to pull back the bowstring, and currently pulls up to 7,000 pounds a day. Her dream is to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
