They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and that has certainly proved the case for Alex Wise’s relationship with competitive archery.
Wise made his Olympic debut in Paris but stepped away from the full-time World Class programme in February, saying at the time he ‘didn’t have four years of the grind left to give’.
Less than 10 months later, however, he has reversed his decision and now has all eyes on LA 2028.
Wise stayed in the sport in the intervening period, working as a regional development officer for Archery GB and keeping his foot in the door at a recreational level.
His performances remained impressive and a particularly strong showing planted a seed which ultimately led him to setting his sights on a return to the biggest stage.
“I almost surprised myself a little bit with the standard I was able to reach after so much time off,” he said.
“After 10 months off, I shot my third best score ever. I thought ‘maybe that is my standard’. I feel I have the extra energy to put in before LA to get to bigger heights than I have previously.
“After Paris, I came to a decision after a couple of months that it was the right thing to step away.
“At the moment of doing it, it was going to be forever. I was happy to start a career, happy to get on with some of the other things in life that aren’t elite sport.
“The decision I have come to now is that I’ve got a lot more to give. I’ve had that time out and it has been really refreshing and maturing in a way. It has helped me a lot.
“I’m super grateful to be given the opportunity to train full time again and I’m going to give LA a right good go.”
Wise reached the round of 32 on his Olympic bow in Paris, going down against eventual team silver medallist Baptiste Addis.
But it was the journey, not the destination, which makes the experience such a memorable one to recall for the 25-year-old Geordie.
Great Britain had one individual quota place at the Games when they arrived at the final qualifying tournament in Antalya, Turkey – the same country in which Wise discovered the sport while on holiday as a child.
They left with six individual spots and both men’s and women’s teams punching their Parisian tickets, the men beating Germany 56-55 in a dramatic deciding end.
“Because of the way we did it, I hold the memory of qualifying slightly above the actual Olympics,” he said.
“At the start of the season, no-one would have put GB’s name in the hat to get a full team quota for both men and women. It was the biggest underdog story I can think of, certainly that I’ve been involved in.
“We started the year as a team ranked 29th in the world and only 12 teams go to the Olympics. We were competing with 50-odd countries for the last three places and we managed to finish third and get it.
“Just speaking about it, I get goosebumps.”
It is the pursuit of such feelings which have helped provide further drive behind Wise’s decision to once again dedicate himself fully to his sport.
“I’d like those moments to be winning medals or more matches,” he said. “I want to feel goosebumps from finishing well at an Olympic Games.
“Compound is coming in for LA and Brisbane, so there are fewer recurve spots available. It will be harder to qualify this time but nothing is better than winning with your teammates, so the end goal is to get a team at the Olympics.
“I would like to go a bit further than last time, whatever that takes.”