LITTLE did Dave Phillips know when he returned to archery in early 2013 after an absence of three decades that he would be swapping Cwmbran for the Copacabana less than four years later.

That is exactly the situation the former steelworker finds himself in as he gets ready to make his Paralympic Games debut in Rio this weekend.

Phillips, whose wife Angie persuaded him to get back into the sport at the age of 47, goes for gold in the individual and mixed team recurve events, both of which begin today.

Now 50, Phillips was a promising bowman as a youngster but gave up archery to focus on his family and work.

And picking up a bow again couldn’t have been further from his mind when, in 1996, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a condition that affects the central nervous system.

But after watching the inspirational feats of Team GB at London 2012, Phillips, thanks largely to Angie, got involved in archery again when he rejoined Llantarnum Archery Club.

Explaining what happened, he said: “In 2012 my condition really poked its head up and I started to suffer quite a lot.

“I was at home and unwell but I had an opportunity to watch the Olympics and Paralympics while I was recovering. I like my sport, especially rugby, and it was an inspiration to watch those athletes work so hard.

“My wife said to me ‘you used to like archery and you need a hobby, why don’t you go back and do archery again?’ “I was thinking I would do it for the social side and meet some of the people from the old days, if they were still about.

“Little did I know that within a year I was training to be selected for the GB para-archery squad. It was incredible. I couldn’t believe that I could be that good that quickly after all that time.

“I used to be quite good when I was a youngster, I was fifth in the GB youth squad back in the 1980s.

“The last two years I’ve been in the able-bodied section and the leading recurve male archer in Wales.”

On qualifying for Rio, he added: “Obviously it’s an amazing journey. I only went back into archery for my health and well-being.

“I wanted to try to fight this condition I’ve got and being outdoors is an absolute winner. I never thought then that I would be at this stage now.

“I just want to do a personal best in Rio. I’ve got some very good friends in the Paralympic archery world and the advice they’ve given me is to just go and enjoy it and don’t put pressure on myself.”

As well as his friends and family, there is of course one person who he owes a big debt of gratitude to.

“If it wasn’t for Angie I never ever would have been going to the Paralympic Games, I would have given up a long time ago,” he said.

“She is so proud.

“I think it has backfired a little bit as I don’t think she meant me to be this good this quickly.

“I think she just wanted me to go down on a Saturday or a Sunday for an hour or two.

“One of the things that nearly halted my career in the early stages was a week or two before the selection shoot for Rio I had all my equipment stolen from the boot of my car.

“All the equipment I had was borrowed from friends and the sport is so expensive I thought there was no way I could afford to replace it.

“My wife went on a mission and Angie won the day. She went out with the local PCSOs and found the equipment. They caught the culprits and I had it returned two days before that selection shoot.

“My wife, friends and family have supported me, and no way would I have got this far on my own.

“The volunteers and Disability Sport Wales have helped tremendously in the last year by supporting me with physio, SNC coaching and getting me in the right mindset to be able to go to the Games.”

Phillips was fortunate enough to travel to Rio earlier this year for a test event.

This has given him a good indication of what he can expect to experience in the coming days.