Ten has become a universal rating system.
People always are asked to rate something on a scale of one to 10. A 10 can mean extreme good looks, extreme pain or a tasty dinner.
But for Jay Barrs, who still calls Montrose his home, a 10 meant a gold medal in archery at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.
Barrs recalls his crucial last shot in the competition by noting a competitor from the Soviet Union and another from South Korea were right on his heels. He knew a good shot on his final attempt would win a medal, but his target was 90 meters away — just short of the length of a football field.
“The target looks to be about the size of a grapefruit from that distance,” Barrs said. “I buried a 10. I knew it was a 10 as soon as I let the arrow go, and I knew it greatly increased my chances for a gold medal.”
Barrs, a left-handed shooter, later was treated to a victory parade in Montrose.
“There’s nothing easy about winning a gold medal in the Olympic Games,” Barrs said. “But there’s as much pressure at the Trials just to get to the Olympics. It demands total focus.”
Barrs would learn the importance of his words in 1992, when he failed, by one shot, to make the Olympic team. He also won a team silver medal in 1988.
“In 1992, I just didn’t have the same confidence as I did in 1988,” Barrs said. “I just didn’t believe like I did in 1988.”
Barrs first tried his hand at archery when he was 5, following the lead of his parents, who were shooters.
“I was more interested in Little League baseball, but archery was fun for me,” Barrs said. “I always was the smallest kid in my class. So I played sports where I could compete.”
His life changed when his family moved from Florida to Kremmling to operate a guest ranch in the Gore Range. His interests turned to skiing — alpine and cross country.
“We lived 8 miles from our nearest neighbor,” Barrs said. “We had to go 8 miles to catch our school bus, and sometimes we had to use snowmobiles to get there.”
The next stop was Montrose, where Barrs took up tennis and became part of the school’s No. 1 doubles team. But between his junior and senior year, archery became a factor again.
“I was 17 and hadn’t shot since I was 12,” Barrs said. “I dug an old bow out of a closet, and I went to a tournament and did pretty well.”
He also came in contact with Don Collier, the archery coach at Colorado Northwestern Community College in Rangely. Collier offered Barrs a scholarship to be on the archery team.
“Suddenly, I was an archer again,” Barrs said.
After two years at Colorado Northwestern, Barrs went to Arizona State. He shot two more years for coach Sheri Rhodes, and the Sun Devils won the collegiate nationals in 1984.
Barrs went to the Olympic Trials in 1984 but fell back during the third day of competition and didn’t make the team.
“I had put a great deal of focus into the collegiate nationals,” Barrs said. “If I had asked myself after that if I thought I could make an Olympic team, my response probably would have been no.”
But while at Arizona State, Barrs met Dick Tone, who would become his coach for his Olympic bid. Barrs took up residence in Phoenix and began training full time. He got a part-time job making arrow rests, earning $10 an arrow.
Barrs credits Tone with leading him to his Olympic gold medal.
“Archery is such a cool sport,” Barrs said. “You don’t have to be 6-foot-8 and weigh 240 pounds. You don’t have to be able to walk and chew gun at the same time, but it helps. It’s a lot like golf in that it’s easy to learn but impossible to master. But it’s a sport you can do all your life.”
Barrs bio
Born: July 17, 1962, in Jacksonville, Fla.
High school: Montrose
Colleges: Colorado Northwestern Community College, Arizona State
Family: Wife Janet (also an archer)
Hobbies: Golf and skiing
Ambition: To shoot an under-par round of golf.
Irv Moss, The Denver Post
