Schloesser says Slovakian archery marathon “perfect prep” for season

World number one Mike Schloesser travelled to Slovakia last week to partner with local international – and current world number seven – Jozef Bosansky to shoot an unusual 12-hour archery mini-marathon.

The pair alternated in two-hour stints, shooting a total of six 72-arrow 50-metre qualifying rounds and combining to drop just 60 points – a 710-point average!

“It was challenging but cool,” said Mike. “It’s great preparation for the outdoor season.”

No tournament on the circuit requires archers to shoot 216 competition arrows in a single day – but elite shooters, like three-time Hyundai Archery World Cup Champion Schloesser, prepare to perform under heavier loads than is ever required.

“I want to shoot my last arrow of a tournament as good as my first,” he explained. “You can’t just make it to the end of a competition day. You’ve got to have plenty of good shots left when the round is done and train for that.”

The 12-hour event was held from eight in the morning to eight at night in a football arena in Korna, a village in the northwest of Slovakia.

Schloesser and Bosansky’s impressive average won the compound competition while Slovenian duo Ziga Ravnikar and Den Habjan topped the recurve leaderboard with 3898 (650 average), ahead of Olympians Gaby Schloesser and Alexandra Longova.

The tournament, which was co-hosted by the Slovakian federation and Reflex Zilina archery club, also acted as a training camp for the country’s national team.