Doris Jones sits quietly reading The Diary of Anne Frank and listening to an MP3 player while, around her, Canada Winter Games-crazed spectators wave clappers and other noisemakers.
The serene, 18-year-old Selkirk, Manitoba native had just broken two national shooting records for woman’s compound bow archery.
Jones shot a 586 out of 600, punching holes in the Canadian Championships and Canadian Open records.
In breaking those records, she also won the Canada Winter Games woman’s compound preliminaries.
“It’s kind of her thing,” said her coach Travis VanDaele.
Jones is the Robin Hood of women’s archery in Canada — though Hood used a recurve, not a compound bow as Jones does.
“She’s at her peak and she’s set just about every record there is.
“It’s almost like a ‘no surprise.’”
Jones holds 127 Canadian records, 15 world records and is the three times world champion in woman’s compound bow archery.
She didn’t realize she’d broken the records until she was tapped on the shoulder and told about it once she was finished shooting.
“I didn’t know until the end, but it was so exciting,” said Jones.
She’s been shooting since she was old enough to hold a bow, which, in Jones’ case, was four.
“I was always with my dad because he was a stay-at-home dad and I always wanted to be with him,” said Jones.
“He put a bow in my hand and I pretended to shoot.”
Pretending didn’t last long.
As Jones grew up, she competed in archery and broke records at almost every event she shot in.
Back home, Jones tries to train everyday for at least two hours.
“It does take away from my schooling and social life,” she said.
Jones is also a Metis Youth Role Model and travels around the country giving archery demonstrations.
She and her teammates, who surround her on the bleachers during the men’s compound bow preliminaries, feel it’s unfortunate that compound bow archery isn’t an Olympic event.
“If it were, I’d definitely be going,” said Jones.
“That’s my dream.”
If you look closely you’ll notice that Jones has blue and white fake nails on her fingers.
The colourful display is a tribute to her hands, which not only help her break archery records but will also help her become a carpenter some day.
“I love working with my hands,” said Jones.
In the same event, team Yukon’s Gwendolynn Cardinal placed 16th, shooting a 316 and Charabelle Silverfox, also from team Yukon, placed 17th, shooting a 167.