Vision and hearing-impaired archer strikes bullseye against all odds

Richard John Nicholl is deaf and blind and he wants to compete in archery at the top international level. He is the first archer who is both vision and hearing impaired to take part in a world championships. He discovered archers after he lost his sight. There is a vision impaired class in Para archeological but no special provisions for athletes with hearing impairments.

Nicholl was born with Usher syndrome and lost his sight at the age of 18. He is deaf and blind. Nicholl started archery 10 years ago at a disability camp in Northern Ireland. His coaches are Chris and Marc MacFadyen. They communicate through British Sign Language. Nichol is self-funded and the Macfadyens took the initiative to learn sign language to make it easier for their student to afford the sport.

Nicholl is a vision and hearing impaired archer. He will compete at the World Archery Para Championships in Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands in June 2019. Nicholl uses sign language to communicate with his spotters. He finished sixth in the European ParA Archeries Championships. MacFadyen is proud to coach him. The British archers wants to win gold at every competition. They are aiming for the centre of the target. It is the only place where they can succeed. In the past, Nichol has won the competition in Pilsen, Czech Republic. His best result was 305 points.