Cape Town archer Karen Anne Hultzer will be representing South Africa at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Most of the out gay athletes are from Europe and the U.S. Hultzer, a lesbian, is the only out athlete representing a country in Africa. And at 47, she is the oldest archer in the field; the youngest is 15 years old.
Born September 16, 1965, Hultzer didn’t begin began archery until 2007 and competed in her first national tournament in March 2008. She won a silver medal at the 2008 Nationals and a gold medal at the Nationals every year since, racking up an impressive four gold medals in as many years.
Hultzer first represented South Africa at the Archery World Cup in Shanghai in August 2009 and has represented South Africa at the World Championships and other World Cup stages ever since.
Her partner, Tracey Kim Saunders, said that Hultzer, “is happy to be identified as a gay athlete!â€
Very little media attention has been paid to Hultzer. Hers is a story of determination driven by love for her sport. Up until a few months ago, she had no coach – she taught herself by reading what she could on the Internet and watching YouTube. She was entirely self-funded. To help with the costs, Hultzer cuts her own arrows, and makes her own strings.
The road that led her to archery was literally just that — the road she drove to work each day to her small landscaping business.
“I kept driving past the range,†Hultzer said, as South Africa’s Daily Maverick reports. “For years I’d seen it, with a sign saying ‘lessons on Saturdays.’  And I was in a foul mood one day and Tracey said, ‘Why don’t you just go out and do that archery thing you keep talking about?’ She probably regrets saying that now, because I basically never came back.â€
When she entered the range the first time, Hultzer knew nothing about archery. “Not a clue. I couldn’t tell the difference between a fletch [The feathers] and a shaft.†Nor did she know that there are two types of archery: compound and recurve; the latter is the Olympic sport. “When you have a rifle, Hultzer explains, you have a back sight and a front sight, and, when aiming at a target, you line the two up. We don’t have a back sight. We are the back sight. And you’re anchoring the arrow with a bit of leather. In compound archery, you have a mechanical release, and a little peep-sight within the string.†By the end of  her first afternoon at the range, she knew she was hooked.
You can follow Karen on her Facebook page, Karen Hultzer at the London Olympics 2012
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