“A Very Special Atmosphere” Says IOC President

The youngest athlete to collect a medal at the seven-day event in the Turkish capital was aged just 13.

Su Szu-Ping from Chinese Taipei, who was competing against juniors aged up to eight years older in the recurve junior women’s category, shot an under-pressure 10 in the final to win a tiebreaker over defending champion Tatiana Andreoli and claim a world crown in her international debut.

The world’s number one compound man, French athlete Sebastien Peineau , also took his first world title in a tiebreaker. Peineau beat the Netherland’s Mike Schloesser , the world number two, in the final.

International Olympic Committee President Dr Thomas Bach attended the event and awarded medals during the recurve junior and senior victory ceremonies.

Although President Bach had visited a number of international archery events, including the World Archery Championships in Belek in 2013, he had never seen the discipline of indoor archery before.

“It was very interesting and there were very close finals with all the shoot-offs,” said President Bach. “It was good to see this format. I think it is very exciting for the archers and spectators.”

The intense competition in indoor archery takes place over 18 metres, with athletes shooting at targets measuring just 20cm in diameter. Forty percent of the tightly contested medal matches in Ankara ended in a tied score and were decided in shoot-offs.

“It’s a different atmosphere. It’s good to have the spectators very close by and this creates a very special atmosphere for indoor archery,” added President Bach.

The Congresium exhibition and congress hall in Ankara was the venue for the practice, qualification and eliminations stages of the competition, and a purpose-built archery arena for finals.

Bronze medallist and three-time Archery World Cup Champion Brady Ellison  described the arena as “awesome”, saying he “loved the loudness” and the atmosphere of the crowd.

World Archery President Prof Dr Ugur Erdener said: “The feedback from our athletes pointed to the competition in Ankara as being one of the best World Archery Indoor Championships in history. The venue was professionally run, the organising committee and volunteers were extremely hospitable, the identity of the tournament was striking and the atmosphere in the venue was excellent.”

“I would like to extend my thanks to the IOC President for visiting the tournament. All that remains is to say congratulations to our newly-crowned World Archery Champions.”

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