Team USA Sets Sights on World Archery Championships
OutdoorHub 09.25.13
Team USA archers will be headed to Belek-Antalya, Turkey for the 47th World Archery Championships. This biannual event begins September 29th and is regarded as the most prestigious archery tournament outside of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Olympian Brady Ellison (Chula Vista, Calif.), fresh off his bronze medal winning comeback at the World Cup Final, will lead a powerhouse recurve team with fellow Olympian Jake Kaminski (Gainesville, Fla.) and 2012 Olympic Team Alternate Joe Fanchin (Chula Vista, Calif.).
The 2012 U.S. Women’s Olympic Archery Team will also compete together again next week: Khatuna Lorig (West Hollywood, Calif.), Miranda Leek (College Station, Tex.), and Jennifer Hardy (College Station, Tex.) will seek the podium finish that eluded them in London.
This competition is commonly regarded as the Olympics of archery for compound archers, and Team USA is sending out its very best. Golden girl, Erika Jones (Grand Island, Neb.), boasts the current world record and No. 1 ranking and is the 2013 Longines Prize for precision winner along with Braden Gellenthien (College Station, Tex.).
Additionally, world ranked No. 1, Reo Wilde (Pocatello, Idaho), rounds out the all star compound teams with Jesse Broadwater (Jennerstown, Penn.), Carli Cochran (Willow Street, Penn.) and Gabrielle Cyr (Falmouth, Maine).
The U.S. will find hot competition with South Korea, whose archers have recently appeared on the compound podiums in addition to dominating the recurve divisions. Colombia’s compound women and Denmark’s compound men’s squads have also been making a splash this year. Additionally on the recurve side, competition is most heated between Mexico, India, and China for the women; and Mexico, Italy, and the Netherlands for the men.
With well over four hundred archers competing, the World Archery Championships are fiercely contended, making it one of the greatest archery events to watch. Expect to see countries emerge as players who do not compete in the World Cup circuit.
Countries including Bhutan, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Greece, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, Thailand, and Uzbekistan are stepping up to the international stage for the first time this competitive season and could shake expectations.
Live results will be available throughout the week at http://www.worldarchery.org. Visit USA Archery on Facebook and follow @usaarchery on Twitter for live tweeting, updates and photos from the field.
For the first time in history, the finals of this event will be streamed live on ArcheryTV. More information and a detailed schedule can be found here. Eurosport 2 will also live broadcast the recurve team finals, as well as the mixed team and individual finals on a slight delay, during prime time on Sunday, October 6.
Additionally, join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter using hashtag #WAC2013 to follow competing athletes and live updates from the field.
