That week in Las Vegas changed Healey’s life forever.
It made her a superstar in the sport almost overnight, just four events into her international career – a dream debut by any standard.
But the Central Florida gold medallist – who secured her ticket to Nanjing by winning the first stage of the 2025 World Cup – has admitted in the past how much the pressure of early success affected her, including during the Paris 2024 Olympic Game.
“I’ve worked a lot on myself the past year or two, and I think I’m mentally stronger to be out here. [There’s been] just a lot more psych work,” she said.
“Obviously, I was an 18-year-old [in Hermosillo 2023], so I wasn’t going to be great with the psych side of things in archery. I’m privileged to have the people to do that.”
“I’d have a bad shot and be like, ‘I think the world’s ending,’ but now I’m like, ‘Okay, that’s fine, just move on.’”
Should she make it all the way at the Nanjing Olympic Museum on Sunday, Healey will first have to get past Casey Kaufhold, then either Hsu Hsin-tzu or defending World Cup Champion Li Jiaman, before a possible gold medal match against one of Kang Chaeyoung, Zhu Jingyi, An San or Michelle Kroppen.
