YANKTON, SD (KTIV) -
The NFAA Easton Yankton Archery Complex has been open in Yankton, South Dakota since 2008.
It's one of the nicest and largest archery ranges in the country. It also has an Olympic standard-sized range.
"Well what you can see in the background here is the only 70 meter range in the United States, and probably the only one in the world," Bruce Cull, President of the NFAA said.
Because of this facility's sophistication, the USA Paralympic Archery Team is calling Yankton home during their training for the games.
"It's kind of a dual effort. One of the coaches, who was our coach here at the facility, coached for the Paralympic team. They have training coming up, and what fell into fate was the completion of our indoor range," Cull said.
Not only is this team overcoming the obstacles that go along with being Olympic athletes, they overcome additional challenges to perfect their craft.
As they work together to train for the games, the team dynamic is an interesting one.
"There's a lot of strong personalities in it, but you get strong personalities with elite athletes, that's just the way it is. But they do well together and when we travel together and work as a team together, we're very strong," Randi Smith, head coach of the USA Paralympic Archery Team said.
One paralympian, headed to her first Olympic games, has overcome degenerative diseases to succeed, and has never backed down from the gold medal goal.
Though she had her spine fused only four months before the Olympic trials, she wasn't going to let that stop her from earning her spot.
"You just do what you have to do to make the modifications you need to make, to do what you want to do. Because I refuse to let my disability define who I am here. And that's just a simple choice you make," Lee Ford, a Paralympic archer said.
No matter the conditions, nothing will stop any member of this team from going for the gold.
The Paralympics start August 29th. Full coverage can be found at www.NBC.com
