Hazel Greene became the first Irish woman to compete in Olympic archery when she made her debut at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, finishing 19th of 29 competitors – advancing on her pre-tournament ranking and recording personal best scores at both the 30-metre and 60-metre distances.

Born near Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, Greene’s family later moved to Naas, Co. Kildare, where she was introduced to archery by the charismatic Joe Callahan, who established a club in Newbridge College. She reached Olympic standard within two years of her introduction to the sport – a remarkable rate of progress.

On 26 August 1979 she rewrote the Irish record books by setting five national records at the Kildare Open Championships at Kilkea Castle, Co. Kildare; a month later she made her international debut at Brussels. She went on to compete at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics, where she improved to 20th place, recording the best result by an Irish archer in Olympic history at that time. She was the first of only two women archers to represent Ireland at Olympic level.