Schloesser becomes second compound man to complete world title triple

World number one Mike Schloesser beat Nico Wiener in the final of the 2018 World Archery Field Championships to become only the second compound man in history to win field, indoor and outdoor world titles.

Schloesser also won the indoor crown in 2018 and his outdoor world title back in 2013.

The first to achieve the triple was Sweden’s Morgan Lundin – who was also shooting at this world field championships in Cortina, Italy – when he won the indoor in 2001 and outdoor in 2005. Lundin won three world field titles in 1992, 2000 and 2006.

“This one means a lot because nobody was expecting it, neither me, so a lot of people were wondering, like, if I was even going to be able to make the cut. Now I stand here with the medal in my hand,” said Schloesser.

This was the accomplished target archer’s first international field competition shot under World Archery rules – and first with an unknown distance component.

“To be honest, I just came here to get some experience for the next time,” said Mike. 

“I listened to a lot of people that I know from the Pro Series and know from the World Cups and stuff, and are good at this, so I listened a lot to them.”

The learning paid off. Mike had the second-highest score over qualification, seeding third after a shoot-off, and beat Fabio Ibba, Dan Jasa, Domagoj Buden and, finally, Nico Wiener, on his road to the top spot on the podium.

Austria’s Wiener put up a good fight in the gold medal match, but even outscoring Schloesser 14-11 on the 60-metre uphill to finish was not enough to claw back the five-point deficit that had emerged over the first three targets.

The match finished 63-61 in the Dutchman’s favour.

Compound women’s winner Paige Pearce outscored both of the male finalists. She dropped just two points over three targets and closed with a respectable 12 to take a five-point win, 64-59, over Toja Ellison.

“I was really nervous before I was heading into the match but as soon as I drew back I kinda just got this wave of calm and thought, okay I can do this,” said Pearce.

The 23-year-old number two seed chose to let down on a number of shots across the finals course.

“Most archers know when you shoot uphill you have to make really strong, quick shots. If you hold, you have a really good chance of dropping them out the bottom,” she explained.

“If I held them long enough that my sight picture bounced up and down into the four then I would let down rather than chance taking that shot.”

Germany’s Carolin Landesfeind took compound women’s bronze; third in the men’s event was Steve Anderson.

The 2018 World Archery Field Championships took place in Cortina, Italy on 4-9 September.

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