Surprise native Eric Bennett prepares to compete in his fifth Paralympics. Competition gets underway Thursday for Bennett, 50, who is seeking his first medal. (Photo courtesy of Sarah Boyd/Team USA Archery)
PARIS – Full-time teacher by morning, Paralympic athlete by afternoon and a father always, Team USA archer Eric Bennett is embarking on his fifth Paralympic Games with his sights set on a prize bigger than the gold medal: his family in attendance to watch him shoot.
Bennett, a Surprise native and graduate of Northern Arizona University, began practicing archery when he was 7 and quickly found a passion for the sport until he lost his right arm at 15, when a drunk driver hit the car in which he was a passenger. It wasn’t until about 10 years later that he started shooting again, this time with help from his father.
“When I realized that I could shoot again, that’s when a fire was lit, and I had gotten my love back,” said Bennett, who is set to compete in the recurve Para Archery event beginning Thursday in Paris.
Alongside another Team USA archer and Arizona native, Brady Ellison, who also competed in his fifth Olympic Games this summer, Bennett will be setting a record for the male Team USA archers for the number of Games competed in.
After over 15 years in the international competitive archery world and, at 50, the oldest member of the United States archery team, Bennett has found that the biggest change in his preparation comes from his mentality. Although he is a two-time World Para Archery Champion and a four-time U.S. national champion, Bennett is still searching for his first Olympic medal.
“This particular Games, I really am excited for because I feel more positive and confident than I have in a long time, and I am also just content inside myself knowing that I’m going to do my best,” he said.
Bennett competed in his first Paralympics in the Beijing 2008 Games and has competed in every Paralympics since. His family, however, has been unable to travel with him. His wife, Rachel Bennett, hasn’t attended the Paralympics since 2012 in London, and his children, Logan, 18, and Natalie Bennett, 15, have never been able to travel internationally with Bennett to watch him compete.
The Paris Games are set to change that.
“This has been huge for me,” Bennett said. “I will be really honest, a big part of my motivation and drive to make my fifth Games was to have my family there.”
The three colored Agitos, a symbol of the Paralympic Movement, are displayed on the Arch de Triomphe in Paris. (Photo by Sydney Lovan/Special for Cronkite News)
Despite the level of commitment it takes to compete at such an elite level with practice and travel, along with working full time as a high school physics and engineering teacher, Bennett has always made his family a priority.
“He always just put his family first,” Rachel said. “We’re excited to just continue to support him and be there for him in this avenue as well.”
Due to visitation rules for the Olympic Village and the Team USA House, Bennett’s communication with his family will mainly be limited to calling and texting while in Paris for the Games.
Each Team USA competing athlete will receive four one-day credentials to give out to friends and family, according to the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. These credentials will allow the visitor access to the Team USA House including the VIP second floor. For the first time, the general public will also be allowed to purchase tickets to visit the public first floor space.
The Bennett family is no stranger to making the most of showing support from afar and finding camaraderie within the Paralympic archery community.
After COVID-19 restrictions prevented Rachel and her children from attending the Games in Tokyo 2020, they traveled to Colorado Springs, home of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic training center, to cheer for Bennett with the families of other athletes.
“It was honestly one of the coolest experiences I ever had. We got absolutely spoiled there …” Natalie Bennett said. “Not to mention I got to see my dad on live TV. I mean almost every kid dreams of that.”
Now Bennett’s family will be able to achieve the dream of watching him compete in the Paralympics in person for what might be the last time.
According to Bennett, he plans to step away from the high level commitment to the United States Archery Team and reconnect with how he started archery on the compound bow.
“I’m gonna do archery as a hobby and have fun with it again,” Bennett said.
Bennett, however, said he is not retiring his recurve bow entirely, and he hopes to give it one last try closer to the trials for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.