Bow International Issue 159

There’s been a few columns here in the past couple of years involving glum predictions about the present or the future. I wish there hadn’t been, but that’s the way the world apparently works now. It’s looking like 2022 might match 2020 or 2021 for unsettling, stressful times that never seem to completely resolve themselves – but there we are. Anyway, this is an archery magazine, so I certainly did my best not to pack the past couple of years with Covid-related content, because I thought you all probably had far too much of that for comfort already, and you didn’t need more of it dropping through your door. The pandemic did a good enough job wrapping itself around everything in various unpleasant ways anyway. In this issue, we have…

Ella Gibson, the world number 13, took gold in the compound women’s event at the European Indoor Championships, defeating the top seed, Elizaveta Knyazeva, in the final, 143-141. It was the culmination of an extraordinary run at elite level that saw Gibson take a silver medal at the European Outdoor Championships in Antalya in 2021, and a third-place finish at the Lancaster Archery Classic in January. However, the European Indoor is her first major title. “Honestly, it’s amazing. It feels like a really long time coming for me to be on the top of that podium,” said Gibson after her win. “It felt incredible, it made me quite emotional, which is pretty unusual for me. I’ve seen our flag in the other two positions so many times, it was a…

World Archery’s executive board has approved a set of sanctions on Russia and Belarus, which comply with the latest recommendations from the International Olympic Committee, in response to the crisis in Ukraine, and the violation of the Olympic Truce, a non-binding UN resolution that establishes a peace accord during Games time, which includes the Paralympics. As of 2 March 2022, no athlete, team official or technical official from Russia or Belarus will be permitted to participate in any international archery event until further notice. The archery federations themselves are not suspended, as they were not directly involved in the breaking of the Olympic Truce. World Archery’s executive board earlier voted to remove the Russian and Belarusian national flags and anthems from all international tournaments. Also, no future events will be…

Sara López, the Colombian archer who is the reigning compound women’s world champion, has been recognised as ‘Officially Amazing’ by Guinness World Records, with the organisation highlighting her as not only the most successful female archer but also the most successful archer in the history of the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final, after she collected a record sixth title in 2021. In addition to the two Guinness World Records, López currently also holds three World Archery-ratified compound women’s world records, for the 50-metre qualification round, the 1440 round and the record at 50 metres in a 1440 round. In November, she set a new record in the World Cup era of spending the longest total number of days as world number one, with 1196, with this streak continuing as of…

AAE, the world’s largest manufacturer of nocks and vanes, has been announced as the sponsor for the National Tour in 2022. As well as a range of products under its own name, the company also manufactures equipment for many other well-known archery brands. Nick Fisher, president of AAE, said this: “Being in the archery industry for over 50 years, we truly appreciate all of our European relationships… We are proud to continue our support of Archery GB as they work to grow archery. Their dedication to quality, well-run events including their marketing and promotional efforts is an example for any federation or organisation to learn from.” The competition kicks off with Bucks and Bounty at Lilleshall NSC on 30 April, and finishes with the Finals event at Wollaton Hall on…

The increasingly public circus that is the national Korean selection trials got underway in Gwangju, Korea on 20 March, on the same range that will host World Cup events and the World Championships in 2025. The selection process started in late 2021, and 107 archers have made it through to the final stage of selection, which will be cut to 28 archers including compound and recurve teams, who will then live and train at the Jincheon national training centre for the duration of the outdoor season. The contenders include triple Olympic gold medallist An San, three-time World Champion Kim Woojin, teenage wunderkind Kim Je Deok and Olympic champions Chang Hyejin and Ki Bo Bae, the latter attempting a comeback. Veteran Oh Jin Hyek, who collected another Olympic gold in 2021,…