The 40-year-old from Melton Mowbray, who won bronze at Athens 2004, will now join a very special group of only four British Olympians to compete in six Games alongside javelin thrower Tessa Sanderson, who competed between 1976 and 1996, fencer Bill Hoskyns, 1956 to 1976, and biathlete Mike Dixon, 1984 to 2002.

"I'm so thrilled and proud to have made it to my sixth Olympics," Williamson (pictured above) said.

"It makes all the sacrifices, and all the hard work, over many years, worthwhile.

"Now I can start to look forward to the enormous honour of representing my country at a home Olympic Games.

"I have enjoyed the experience at every Games and it means as much today as it did when I qualified for the Barcelona Games 20 years ago.

"This is the ultimate event that every athlete aspires to, and to be there six times is just amazing."


Williamson is joined in the women's squad by 24-year-old Olympic debutant Amy Oliver (pictured bottom, second right) and 28-year-old Naomi Folkard (pictured bottom, far right), who will be competing in her third Games in succession.

The women's team will be aiming for the medal podium after finishing fourth at the last Olympics in Beijing four years' ago, while the same trio selected to Team GB today won a silver medal for England at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

In the men's competition Team GB will be represented by Simon Terry (pictured bottom, second left), the 38-year-old who won a pair of bronze medals 20-years-ago at Barcelona 1992.

Terry will be competing in his third Olympics, as will 35-year-old Larry Godfrey (pictured bottom, third left).

The duo is joined by 31-year-old Alan Wills (pictured bottom, far left), who will enter the Olympic competition for the second time having made his debut at Beijing 2008.


"I'm really happy to be going to a third Olympics, especially a home Games," said Terry (pictured above).

"London 2012 is going to be a wonderful occasion for everyone and to be a part of it is very exciting.

"It will be a fantastic experience to walk out at Lord's and see 5,000 spectators supporting you as a British athlete.

In total, the archers have a combined experience of 12 Olympic Games and have won three Olympic medals.

They will all compete in the individual competition before joining forces to contest the men's and women's team events.

"We are delighted to welcome a full complement of six archers to Team GB to compete in the London 2012 Olympic Games in what will be a very memorable setting at Lord's," said Team GB Chef de Mission Andy Hunt.

"There is a real wealth of experience within the squad, which will stand them in good stead for the unique pressure involved in Olympic competition.

"All six individuals have won medals at world level and the men's team demonstrated just last weekend that the British archers are competitive with the very best by winning gold at the World Cup in Turkey."

Hunt also heaped specific praise on Williamson.


"What Alison has achieved is very special," he said.

"Attaining the incredibly high standard required to become an Olympian once is something to be admired, to achieve it six times is something to be truly cherished and is a tribute to her consistent passion, determination and talent for the sport over two decades.

"The experience she can share with her teammates throughout Team GB is invaluable."

The addition of the archers brings the total number of athletes officially selected to Team GB for London 2012 to 85 across the seven disciplines of archery, athletics – the marathon - boxing, canoe slalom, sailing, swimming and synchronised swimming.

"No stone has been left unturned in the pursuit of ensuring our archers are fully prepared, and at the top of their game, for the London 2012 Olympics," added Archery GB performance director Sara Symington.

"We have an extremely experienced squad who have had to work very hard to fight off determined competition for a place at the Games.

"It's a great achievement by all six archers to maintain such high levels of consistency over a long time."

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May 2011: Britain's archers test their nerves in front of screaming schoolchildren