Brady Ellison, An San, Mike Schloesser and Sara Lopez will officially finish the year as the world’s number-one-ranked archers.
Only the former, Ellison, held the spot in the last cycle.
Schloesser and Lopez are officially up one place, having both been second at the end of 2019 (and 2020, when the rankings were frozen due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
This year’s highest new entry is Denmark’s Mathias Fullerton, slotting in at number two in the compound men’s list. He’s the latest in a long line of top Danish compounders.
The only top five to see near wholesale change after the pandemic is that of the recurve women.
Olympic Champion An San is up five places to first, despite having only collected meaningful ranking points at the Olympics and world championships, putting her just ahead of double World Cup stage winner Deepika Kumari. Elena Osipova (second at the Games), Lisa Barbelin (European Champion) and Mackenzie Brown (fourth at the Games) all jumped up at least 35 places over the course of the season.
The rank changes indicated are compared to the list issued on 1 April 2020, which was when the rankings were frozen early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recurve men
Brady Ellison, USA
It was not a marquee year for Brady – but a solid one nonetheless, with two Hyundai Archery World Cup stage wins and a second-place finish (after a shoot-off) at the circuit finale.
You have to wonder if his Olympic result would have been different had it happened in 2020 – or with a crowd. Either way, he remains just ahead of Olympic Champion Mete Gazoz in the end-of-year rankings.
- Brady Ellison, USA (=)
- Mete Gazoz, Turkey (+4)
- Galsan Bazarzhapov, Russia (+22)
- Kim Woojin, Korea (-1)
- Mauro Nespoli, Italy (=)
Recurve women
An San, Korea
Sure, we knew An San was talented. She won her debut stage of the Hyundai Archery World Cup in Berlin in 2019. But history-making talented?
Korean women have come and gone on the international stage before. Even Olympic winners. A one-hit wonder (albeit a pretty incredible hit)? Or will An San be back in this conversation, 12 months from now?
- An San, Korea (+4)
- Deepika Kumari, India (+7)
- Elena Osipova, Russia (+38)
- Lisa Barbelin, France (+78)
- Mackenzie Brown, USA (+55)
Compound men
Mike Schloesser, Netherlands
It’s been a struggle between Schloesser and Braden Gellenthien for the top spot over the past few seasons. Quite incredible, really, considering Mike’s been one of the world’s best for a decade – and Braden for two. The new kid on the block, the previously unranked Mathias Fullerton, is now in the mix.
- Mike Schloesser, Netherlands (+1)
- Mathias Fullerton, Denmark (new entry)
- Braden Gellenthien, USA (-1)
- Kris Schaff, USA (-1)
- Abhishek Verma, India (+11)
Compound women
Sara Lopez, Colombia
Perhaps the epithets for Sara’s accomplishments prior to this past season were exaggerated.
Or perhaps the GOAT just managed to find yet another gear in 2021, winning her first World Archery Championships (and no less than all three available golds there) and a record sixth Hyundai Archery World Cup Final.
Right now, she’s extending her record for the longest time spent as world number one every single day.
- Sara Lopez, Colombia (+1)
- Tanja Gellenthien, Denmark (+7)
- Toja Ellison, Slovenia (+7)
- Jyothi Surekha Vennam, India (+11)
- Natalia Avdeeva, Russia (=)
