VI ARCHERY

Janice Walth,

competitive archer

Competitive Archery

Sees No Limits

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As a member of the US Paralympics Archery World Championship team, I was the first visually impaired archer to represent the United States in international competition in

Cheongju, Korea, October 1 through 10, 2007. 

IPC Archery World Championship website

Thanks to the support of so many people, I had the opportunity to experience the chance of a lifetime.  I finished in 3rd place in the FITA competition, breaking six women’s world records.  I was thrilled to make it to the gold medal round, winning the silver medal and being ranked second overall in the world. 

Thank you all so much - what a fantastic ride! 

I want to thank the people who supported me with their generous donations of time and funding, helping me achieve my quest to compete in Korea:

Link to Channel 10 News Report
on Janice Walth and VI Archery

Link to list of supporters

2007 Paralympic Archery World Championship Team. I am the second on the left in the back row. My coach is on the top left next to me.

Quest For Korea Raffle:

I would like to thank all the archers, archery families and friends who supported me by buying raffle tickets at club shoots, tournaments and online. I am truly overwhelmed by your generosity.

I would also like to thank Carbon Tech, Hoyt, Leven Industries and Sure-Loc for donating the very generous prizes.  

Please click on the link below to see a list of the winners.

Raffle winners

Please read about my experiences while in Korea by clicking on the link below.

Korea journal

Articles about Janice's Archery 

Paralympics News

October 10, 2007   

U.S. turns in strong team performance in Korea

Channel 10 interview

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Archer Sees No Limits

Lodi News Sentinel

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Lodi’s Blind Archer Shooting For 2012 Games

2007 Team Announcement

Friday, June 29, 2007

Ten Athletes Selected…

The Gazette

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Tuesday, August 1, 2006

First to compete in national event

U.S. National Target Championships

July 18, 2006

Press Release

Lodi News Sentinal

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Blind Ambition

Fresno Bee

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Eye-opening Experience 

Long Beach Press-Telegram

Sunday, June 12, 2005

formatted for Screen Reader

PDF version - with photos

Archery Magazine

Volume 25, Number 2, 2005

formatted for Screen reader

PDF version - with photos

Archery Focus Magazine 6, 2004

formatted for Screen reader

PDF version - with photos

Janice is taking aim and is ready to let the arrow fly.

This takes full concentration, balance, and consistency.

Standing behind Janice is her spotter, who helps identify

the location of the arrow on the target 30 meters away.

     I have been competing in archery for the past four years, but I have been blind since childhood with Retinitis Pigmentosa or R.P., a degenerative condition of the retina. Typically, the disease shows up in teenagers or adults, but for my brother and me, it struck early.

     They didn't know I had it when I was little.  They said we were farsighted.  Back in the '60s, people didn't put a name to it. 

     Being blind hasn't stopped me from living my life. I supervised medical transcription for 18 years in a hospital in Southern California, before I got burned out and decided to try computer science.  These days, I have just completed a bachelor's degree in adaptive technology for adults with disabilities.  I am a classroom assistant at San Joaquin Delta College, teaching JAWS software, a screen reader that helps people who are  visually impaired use software applications and the Internet.

     As you can imagine, I felt quite honored when US Paralympics invited me to be part of the archery team and travel with them to Korea compete in the IPC Archery World Championships.