Mike Schloesser receives Dutch Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau

World number one Mike Schloesser has been named a Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau as part of the 2019 King’s Day celebrations in the Netherlands. The order is awarded to Dutch citizens who have “earned special merits for society”.

“It’s an honour to receive the Order of Orange-Nassau,” said Mike. “It’s really special because I’m the youngest one this year and it means a lot of respect. It’s finally some recognition of all the things what I do. It’s really special to receive it.”

The Mayor of Voerendaal in the province of Limburg visited Mike’s family home to congratulate him via Skype.

He is currently competing at the first stage of the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Medellin, Colombia, where he will shoot for the gold medal against the USA’s Braden Gellenthien on Saturday 27 April.

Photo via 1limburg.nl.

Mike was sitting in the stands after yesterday’s eliminations when he received the call from home.

“We started talking about the competition because I made the final and that’s pretty normal. My parents and I always do something like that, but they said, ‘we have a surprise for you’,” said Mike.

“The mayor, from our village, from our city, was standing in the living room with them. To suddenly get a call from an important person like him. That’s really cool.”

Schloesser, at 25 years of age, is one of the most successful compound men of all time.

He is only the second archer in the category to win the World Archery Championships (2013), the World Archery Indoor Championships (2018) and the World Archery Field Championships (2018).

Over the course of his nine-year international career, he has won four Hyundai Archery World Cup stages and the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in 2016.

He was also the first to shoot a perfect 600-point 18-metre ranking round and previously held the world record for outdoor qualification.

The Order of Orange-Nassau is an historic order of chivalry that was founded in 1892.  Since 1996, there have been six classes awarded: Knight Grand Cross, Grand Officer, Commander, Officer, Knight and Member.

Competition at the first stage of the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Medellin, Colombia runs until Sunday 28 April.