Alison says Sir Clive's pep talk inspired her superb Games record

London: Veteran archer Alison Williamson has credited a pep talk by Sir Clive Woodward four years ago for her record-equalling sixth Olympic appearance in London this summer.

Williamson, 40, was confirmed in Team Britain's six-strong archery squad for the Olympic competition at Lord's, making her only the third British athlete to take part in six summer Olympic Games after fencer Bill Hoskyns and javelin-thrower Tessa Sanderson.

But Williamson revealed that she would no longer be competing at the top level had it not been for a talk with Woodward after missing out on a medal in the women's team event in Beijing in 2008.

"After we lost in Beijing, Sir Clive sat down with us and gave advice and shared his wisdom, and that definitely had an impact on me," she said.

"He was saying that when you win you should look through a window and see all the people who have been behind you and have helped you get there.

"But when you lose, you need to look in a mirror and look at yourself and think, ‘What was it that I didn't do or what do I need to do differently?'

"That has definitely stayed with me. I wouldn't be here to today if he hadn't had given that talk. It did make a big difference."

Woodward, the former England rugby union coach and now deputy chef de mission for Team GB, was present at Lord's for the team announcement but, until Wednesday, had no idea that his words in Beijing had made such a big impression.

"I said to them that when you're in a situation where things haven't gone well, my advice would be just to be brutally honest with yourself," said Woodward.

Take responsibility

"Have you really done everything that was asked in the past four-year period? Have you done everything humanly possible to get yourself into a winning position? If the answer is no, then you've just got to take responsibility."

Williamson, from Melton Mowbray, heads a highly experienced GB line-up, five of whom competed in Beijing. The only newcomer is 24-year-old Olympic debutant Amy Oliver.

Woodward said: "Often you need to go through the bad times and the pain to come out the other side and hopefully Alison's done that... It's a remarkable achievement to get to a sixth Olympic Games, especially after the disappointment of Beijing when you've got to get back on the horse and say, ‘Right, I'm going to do this now and maybe do it even better."

Amy Oliver, making her Olympic debut, and Naomi Folkard, appearing at the Games for a third time, join Williamson in the female team after taking the top two places in the selection process.

In the men's event Larry Godfrey will make a third Games appearance and Simon Terry a fourth after they topped the scoring at Lilleshall.

‘Back in business'

Wills, who joined the pair in Beijing four years ago, was widely tipped to be picked again and all but assured his place at the weekend when he, Godfrey and Terry took team gold in the World Cup event in Turkey.

Godfrey, fresh from the morale-boosting victory in Antalya on Sunday, said: "Winning that gold medal at the weekend proves that we're back in business, and that's given us a real lift.

"But we won't be resting on our laurels, there's still a lot of work to do ahead of the Olympics, and trust me, the standards in Turkey were outstanding, and while we've proved what we're capable of, we all know that we have to be totally focused between now and the start of the Olympic archery tournament."

— Telegraph Group Limited, 2012