As an Oscar award-winning actress, Geena Davis knew that someday her secret passion for archery would be exposed. But in her first two years of competition, the news media throng never came and Davis began to think that maybe she would be allowed to compete as the rest of America's archers do: in peace, in quiet and anonymity.

But that notion ended today when news media members from more than 50 outlets around the world converged on a wet and dreary Brookdale Park to watch Davis shoot arrows in the semifinals of the United States Olympic Trials for Archery. Joining the dozens of local news media members were reporters from the British Broadcasting Company, The London Times, RTL television in Germany and a newspaper in Italy.

The 60 male and female archers, who, despite being the nation's best in their field, are accustomed to performing before single-digit crowds and had never experienced anything like this media frenzy. And neither had Davis, who was not ready for such attention as an athlete.

''I was ill prepared for this onslaught,'' Davis said after seven hours of competition. ''It was like being at a premiere, which I'm used to. I mean, that doesn't make me nervous anymore. But to do a sport with this kind of attention was kind of unsettling. And also, one wants to do well at the Olympic Trials, so there was a level of stress.''