Gold Tip’s Jesse Broadwater Wins 2012 FITA Field World Championships
OutdoorHub 08.23.12
Val d ‘Isère, located in the French Alps, was the stage for the recent FITA Field World Championships, held Aug. 14-19. Qualified archers from all over the world gathered in the mountains of Val d ‘Isère to compete for the coveted title. FITA Field consists of shooting two preliminary rounds and one day of head-to-head matches. Preliminary rounds include one round of 24 targets at unknown distances and one round of 24 targets at known distances. This competition was held in extreme mountain terrain with difficult footing, which provided a test of physical stamina and shooting skill. Unlike other venues of archery, FITA Field does not allow any equipment to determine the angle of the shot nor the distance to the target. Archers must master the art of determining the appropriate angle and calculating the proper distance to the target.
After the first day at unknown distance, Gold Tip Pro Staffer, Jesse Broadwater, found himself a seemingly insurmountable 7 points off the lead. In the second round, Broadwater proved once again why he is one of the best archers in the world. After all scores were tallied from the known distance round, Broadwater found himself in the lead by three points. Broadwater made his way through the elimination rounds without any issues to move into the semifinals. There, he won the match by a convincing six-point margin to qualify for the gold medal match.
The final match was a battle from the first arrow. Both archers scored 17 points on the first target. Then Broadwater scored a perfect 6-6-6 to take a 2-point lead, 35-33. However, Jesse then shot 5-5-5 on the third target, while his opponent shot 6-5-6 tying the match 50-50 heading into the last target, a very difficult 60-meter (66 yards) 23 degree uphill shot. This target had an incredible 5-1/4 yard deduction and was actually shot for 60-3/4 yards given the severe uphill angle. While his opponent shot 4-5-5, Broadwater posted an amazing 6-6-5 to win the gold 67-64.
“I was very excited about this tournament. This type of venue is new for me and I really wanted to do my best,” said Broadwater. “Winning Las Vegas this year and outdoor nationals was awesome, but I am very comfortable in those venues. The FITA Field game posed a new challenge for me and I wanted to prove I had what it takes. Due to the extreme up/down and side hill shots, I changed my stabilization set up to help this issue. I also built up my Gold Tip Ultra-light 500 Pro’s with 120 grains up front to help gain some speed for the unmarked round while not giving up too much FOC on the known. Both changes worked out great for me.”
Jesse was shooting the Gold Tip UL 500 with 120 grains in the point and the Bee Stinger Premier Plus stabilization system. In addition to helping Jesse win the FITA World Championship trophy, Gold Tip’s Ultralight shafts and Smart Carbon Technology have helped many hunters harvest some of the largest North American game trophies.
