With a huge crowd gathering behind him, Mike Schloesser stepped up to the line to shoot his final end of a 60-arrow round that will go down in history. The previous world record at 18 metres, set by Canadian Christopher PERKINS in 2011, was 599: one point shy of 60 consecutive arrows hitting the one-centimetre diameter 10-ring.
With three arrows left to shoot at the third stage of the Indoor Archery World Cup in Nimes, Mike sat on 570 points. Or, in other words, 57 consecutive shots landing in the middle.
“On the first arrow I was a little bit nervous. I couldn’t hold my bow still enough and it went a little bit low,” said Mike, replaying the end in his head. “I was thinking about shooting clean. Not about the world record, just about staying clean.”
That third-to-last arrow looked questionable to the crowd and Mike: “The first time I looked, I thought it was out. The second time, I thought it might be in.”
“I wanted to look back to verify the score with my parents but I saw a lot of people behind me. It was nerve-wracking.”
It was a 10.
“My second to last arrow was a bit sloppy, too. I couldn’t hold by bow still. But my last arrow…”
“I held it in the middle and it went off in the middle.”
It was there: Six hundred points for the first time in history and reigning compound men’s outdoor World Champion Mike Schloesser etched himself yet another place in the history books.
It’s an honour that won’t ever be taken away. His new and perfect world record simply cannot be beaten.
