Undaunted By Finish in London 2012 Olympics, Iowan Eyes Rio Games in 2016

Miranda Leek wanted a gold medal at the London Olympics, but she wants Rio more.

How much more? “Really, really badly,” the 2011 graduate said Thursday at the school’s fall sports rally, where she was something of a local celebrity.

“I learned that I am capable of competing at high levels, that I’m capable of shooting really good scores under distracting conditions, and I totally believe I am capable of winning a gold medal,” Leek said in an interview with Patch.

“I didn’t medal,” she told a West Des Moines stadium full of well-wishers and fans, “but I shot my heart out and gave it my best.”

Her dad, Scott, a single father who started shooting bows with his Olympian daughter when she was 5, hasn’t booked a hotel room yet, but says he’ll be surprised if his daughter’s name isn’t on the roster for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janiero.

"Deep down here," her dad said, holding a clenched fist to his stomach, "she's competitive about eveything, mostly with herself."

At 19, still able to compete in junior competition, and ranked 10th in the world in a sport where the other two members of the USA women’s archery team are a decade or two her senior, she has plenty of years left, Scott said.

Khatuna Lorig is 38 and made her second Olympic appearance at London. Jennifer Nichols is 28 and made her third Olympic appearance. Leek was the first of the trio to quality for the London 2012 Olympics, finishing ahead of her older teammates.

She made the USA Archery Junior Dream Team at 14, was elected to represent the United States at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics and helped Team USA earn a silver medal at the 2011 Pan American Games, where she won an individual silver.

Dad wasn’t surprised when his daughter qualified for the London games. “She’s been an Olympian for a long time – a long, long time,” he said. “She’s gotten a glimpse of what competition is and she will be back.”

How proud is Dad?

“I am more proud than I can even say,” he said. “She had done really well and worked very hard. I’ve been impressed with how she handled the pressure. She’s really grown up in the sport.”

Elimination early in the London Games was disappointing to his daughter, but he was proud that she handled it with the same grace that he expects she would have had she made it to the medal stand.

“She wanted more and didn’t get as far as she wanted,” he said, “but she handled it fine.”

He looks at it this way: When Miranda began competing at the world level, “she ran into herself from other countries,” he said “She was competing against the best of the best.”

He said that over the past year as Miranda worked toward qualifying for and then competing in the Olympics, he learned a lot about his daughter.

“The father-daughter relationship still happens,” he said. “That didn’t change. All the woes parents get growing up young girls still happens, even with Olympian girls."

She’s also turning younger kids onto a sport that requires mental focus, but isn’t as physically demanding as some Olympic sports. “She’s a great ambassador with the kids,” he said. “I’ve seen her a number of times kneel down at their level and talk to them. She’s just terrific with them – and with adults.”

“There’s no attitude there at all,” Dad said.

Miranda, who graduated from Dowling with a 4.03 GPA after taking a full load of advanced placement classes in calculus, chemistry and physics, will head to Texas A&M University later this month to study molecular and cellular biology.

“I thought if I study something I enjoy, it will point me to a career,” she said.