U.S. Para Archer Jason Tabansky's Wild Path to Paris Turns Golden

PARIS – U.S. Paralympic archer Jason Tabansky did not know he was going to compete at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games until late June. Now, the first-time Paralympian is also a gold medalist.

Facing an uphill battle, including a bracket containing the world’s top-ranked Para archers and an errant penultimate arrow during the last end of his gold-medal match, the retired U.S. Army Staff Sergeant locked in for his third and final shot. Needing just a score of eight to win, he nailed a perfect 10 to secure the top spot on the podium in the men’s individual W1 competition, winning 134-131.

“Honestly I remember loading my arrow, hooking my release, drawing back, and then screaming,” he said of his final shot. “I don’t remember the shot. All I remember was thinking, ‘put the pin in the gold, and let’s punch this thing.

“After that it was just a fountain of emotions that I’ve had going through me for the last seven years.”

When the arrow hit the target, Tabansky took a moment to himself, raised his arms, smiled and pointed to the sky, remembering his faith and his fallen friends and family members.

Tabansky’s win marks the fourth consecutive time an American man has won an individual Para archery medal at a Paralympic Games. Kevin Mather took home a gold medal three years ago in Tokyo, while Andre Shelby and Jeff Fabry won their golds in 2016 and 2012, respectively.

Tabansky’s division, W1, scores slightly different than the Olympic recurve discipline. Instead of winning set points after three arrows, competitors shoot five sets of three arrows each for a total of 15 arrows. Whichever archer scores the most total points at the end of all 15 arrows is declared the winner.

After earning the sixth seed in the ranking rounds, Tabansky was placed into the toughest bracket in the match. After defeating the second-ranked archer in the world, Brazil’s Eugenio Santana Franco, the Texas native prepared to compete against Czechia’s David Drahoninsky. Nicknamed “Mr. W1” by television broadcasters, Drahoninsky had never left a Paralympic Games without at least a silver medal hanging around his neck. He won gold in Tokyo, silvers in Rio and London and a gold in Beijing. The latter gold came five years before Tabansky even picked up a bow.

But, that’s the beauty of archery, as Tabansky, who is a lifelong fan of the NFL’s Green Bay Packers, leaned into the NFL’s “any given Sunday” mantra, and took down “Mr. W1,” 139-131.

Relative to his quarterfinal match, Tabansky breezed through his semifinal, defeating Italy’s Paolo Tonon, 136-115, setting up a gold medal match against the current top-ranked W1 archer in the world, China’s Han Guifei.

Tabanksy remained calm throughout the match, but trailed slightly heading into the fourth set, 81-79. Then, he flipped the script, firing two nines to open set four, and capping it with a 10. Tabansky opened the final set with an “X,” or the dead center of the 10-point circle. However, the gap closed when his second arrow flew high and scored a seven.

“I was like, ‘holy crap, I popped that up! Now we kept it interesting. We’re giving these people a show,’” he explained of his errant shot, which scored a seven. “Then, I looked at (coach Jonathan Clemins) and let him know it was my fault. I don’t need to fix my sight.”

Guifei fired an eight on his final arrow, leaving Tabansky with a small window of opportunity. The savvy newcomer took it, adjusted his release, and fired his golden 10.

When Tabansky did not qualify for Paris 2024 during the 2024 U.S. Paralympic Team Trials for Archery in May, he was crushed. He’d assumed he had to wait another four years to try again. That was until he received a call while competing at another Para archery world ranking event in Czechia. 2023 world champion Christopher Davis of Australia had sustained an injury requiring surgery, opening up a slot for another archer.

Tabansky was next in line.

A frenzy of training, planning and packing began as he learned he would be making his Paralympic debut in Paris. His massive support system, including USA Archery and his wife, Courtney Brassard, who also competes in archery tournaments.

“I practiced at home, four matches every day against my wife,” he said. “As long as I was winning and shooting within a certain point range, I knew I was going to be good…I knew all I had to do was shoot my four matches the same way I did at home.

“When I lined up on the line, I blocked out everybody that was in the stands and just visualized that garage in Boerne, Texas, where I would shoot. The wind was just the same, and the sun felt the same.”

Given his unconventional path to Paris, Tabansky mentioned that leaning on the veterans of U.S. Para archery who are in Paris, such as Matt Stutzman and Eric Bennett.

“Those guys are just a fountain of knowledge,” he said. “When you talk about support, they have always been there for me.”

Tabansky also noted that he and KJ Polish, his Paralympic village roommate, have become close friends and call to check up on each other frequently.

Before interviews concluded, Tabansky also credited Davis, whom he knows very well, as Para archery contains a small pool of athletes that compete against each other around the world.

“This one is for Chris Davis as well,” he said. “He got hurt and wasn’t able to be here. But, I always told myself if he sacrificed his spot, then I’m going to make it count. It’s going to be for something.”

Tabanksy is not done in Paris, as he is lined up to compete alongside Tracy Otto in the mixed team event, which takes place on Sept. 2.

“I’m going to take some time to let this soak in,” he said. “Then, after that we’ll go give it everything we’ve got.”

Brendan Rourke is a Digital Media Assistant for the USOPC. Previously, he spent three seasons writing for the NBA's Indiana Pacers.