GLENASHLEY archer, Devanique Rossouw is shooting for an Olympic dream, and if her recent performances are anything to go by, the 17-year-old is well on her way to hitting the bulls eye. Devanique, a three time national winner (two indoor titles and one outdoor title) in the sport of compound archery, recently returned from the Youth Archery World Championships in Yankton, South Dakota where she represented South Africa.

This was her third appearance at a world champs (both indoor and outdoor) in recent years but it was the Port Natal Grade 11 pupil’s best performance to date. Devanique finished fifth in the singles competition and fourth in the mixed teams.

“I was extremely pleased with my performances. My goal was to improve on my 9th place finish last year and I was ecstatic with the final result. I think this time around I knew what to expect from the competition and I trained really hard. There was a lot more prep work done before these champs. The conditions in the USA weren’t easy either. We had to contend with gusts of up to 50km/h which has an effect on a precision sport such as ours,” she said.

“As an archer though, you know the conditions are never going to be the same. I gained a lot of experience at these champs and exposure to the highest level of competition only benefits you as as a athlete and competitor,” she said.

Devanique’s love for the sport started at the young age of seven and since then she has not looked back.

“My dad is also an archer and the first time he took me hunting I was hooked. I wanted to learn more about the sport and my passion has grown everyday,” she said.

Next year marks the archery star’s matric year, which she insists will be tough, but it won’t deter her from her dreams.

“Academically you have to be focused, but I’m not losing sight of my dream. I’m not going to lay back. My goal is to represent South Africa at the world champs in 2017,” she said.