Shannon Archer (born 29 July 1998 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish artistic gymnast. She was the first Scottish gymnast to win a medal in women's artistic gymnastics at the Commonwealth Games, earning a bronze on vault in 2022.
| Shannon Archer | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 29 July 1998 Edinburgh, Scotland | |||||||||||||||||
| Hometown | Uphall, West Lothian | |||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Women's artistic gymnastics | |||||||||||||||||
| Level | Senior International Elite | |||||||||||||||||
| Years on national team | 2010–2024 (SCO) 2010–2013, 2022 (GBR) | |||||||||||||||||
| Club | South Essex | |||||||||||||||||
| Head coach(es) | Ross Falsetta | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Education | Edinburgh Napier University | |||||||||||||||||
Early life edit
Archer was born in 1998 in Edinburgh. Her mother, Wendy Purdie, was a Scottish indoor lawn bowls player.[1] Archer earned a Bachelor of Science in Developing Athletes Through Professional Practice from Edinburgh Napier University.[2]
Gymnastics career edit
Archer made her international debut for Scotland at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games where she helped Scotland finish fourth as a team.[2] In 2017 Archer won her first senior national title and helped Scotland win the bronze medal at the Northern European Championships.[3][4]
Archer competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games where she helped Scotland finish fifth as a team.[5] Individually she finished tenth in the all-around and fifth on vault.
In 2020 Archer moved started training at the South Essex Gymnastics Club.[6] She reclaimed the Scottish national title in 2021 and successfully defended it the following year.[2][7]
Archer competed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games where she helped Scotland finish sixth as a team. During the all-around competition she finished eighth. During the vault final Archer finished third behind Georgia Godwin of Australia and Laurie Denommée of Canada, earning herself the bronze medal. In doing so Archer became the first Scottish female artistic gymnast to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games.[8][9][10][11]
Competitive history edit
| Year | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Commonwealth Youth Games | 4 | 7 | 6 | |||
| 2015 | Scottish Championships | 4 | 4 | 5 | 
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| British Team Championships | 5 | 11 | |||||
| Northern European Championships | 7 | ||||||
| 2016 | Scottish Championships |  |
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| International Gymnix (Challenge) | 20 | |
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| British Team Championships | 7 | 23 | |||||
| British Championships | 11 | 5 | 6 | ||||
| Northern European Championships | 5 | 7 | 4 | ||||
| Mälarcupen | |
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| 2017 | Scottish Championships | |
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| British Championships | 13 | 5 | |||||
| British Team Championships | 4 | 12 | |||||
| Northern European Championships | |
4 | |||||
| 2018 | Scottish Championships | |
|
7 |
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| British Championships | 17 | 8 | 8 | ||||
| Commonwealth Games | 5 | 10 | 5 | ||||
| 2019 | British Team Championships | 10 | 10 | ||||
| 2021 | Scottish Championships | |
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| 2022 | Scottish Championships | |
8 | |
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| English Championships (guest) | |
4 | |||||
| Commonwealth Games | 6 | 8 | |
8 | |||
| 2024 | Scottish Championships | |
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7 |
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References edit
- ^ "Team Scotland: Shannon Archer". Team Scotland.
- ^ a b c "Shannon Archer announces retirement". Scottish Gymnastics. 31 January 2024.
- ^ "2017 Scottish Championships Results". The Gymternet. 5 March 2017.
- ^ "2017 Northern European Championships Results". The Gymternet. 21 October 2017.
- ^ "Artistic Gymnastics | Athlete Profile: Shannon ARCHER - Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games". results.gc2018.com. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ "Olympic legacy of Essex club inspires new generation of gymnasts". BBC News. 16 July 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ "Shannon Archer". The Gymternet. 9 March 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ Sommerville, Stuart (30 September 2022). "West Lothian tributes to sporting heroes after Commonwealth Games success". edinburghlive. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ "'I just started crying' - Shannon Archer ends Scotland's 44-year wait for artistic gynmastic medal at Commonwealth Games". www.scotsman.com. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ "Archer makes history with vault bronze". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ Carson, Callum (2 August 2022). "West Lothian gymnast reflects on historic Commonwealth Games medal". Daily Record. Retrieved 2 October 2022.