World Archery Athlete of the Year 2015 results: Para Archer

Wi Chunyan collected the para archery’s World Archery Athlete of the Year 2015 Award at the World Archery Gala in Las Vegas on Friday 29 January 2016. She was voted top of a five-para archer shortlist by the general public and World Archery’s awards panel. The shortlist was proposed by national archery federations and archery experts.

Here are the full results…

1. Wu Chunyan  – 33%

Wu Chunyan made her international debut at the Donaueschingen 2015 World Archery Para Championships, where she took home three gold medals: In the individual, mixed team and team competitions.

2. Eric Bennett  – 26%

Eric Bennett, who shot his recurve bow with a mouthtab, has been representing the USA for more than 10 years.  At Donaueschingen 2015, his hard work finally paid-off: He won gold in the recurve men’s open category.

3. Alberto Simonelli  – 18%

Nineteen-ninety-eight World Champion Simonelli had a shot at first title in 17 years at Donaueschingen 2015, where he won silver and bronze in the mixed team and compound men’s open team. Simonelli led the Italian men to a new para world record with a combined 2062 points in qualification.

To finish his 2015 outdoor season, he set two more new world records at the Italian National Championships in Torino: The 72-arrow ranking round with 706 out of 720 points, and the 15-arrow match with a perfect 150 points.

4. David Drahoninsky  – 13%

Beijing 2008 Para Champion David Drahoninsky won his first individual world championships title in the W1 men’s category in Donaueschingen – a title he added to the silver and bronze he previously won in Turin 2011 and Bangkok 2013, respectively.

During the quarterfinals, David broke the 15-arrow match world record with 144 points.

5. Jo Frith  – 10%

At her first international year, Jo Frith claimed gold, alongside with teammate John Walker, in the W1 mixed team competition in Donaueschingen. Individually, she won silver.