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Schloesser surpasses Lopez for longest time spent ranked world #1

31 December 2023

Lausanne, Switzerland

Real name:

Mike Schloesser shoots at the 2023 World Archery Championships.

Mike Schloesser has overtaken legendary Colombian compounder Sara Lopez to become the longest-tenured world number one.

The Dutch archer, perhaps better known as Mister Perfect, has accrued 1671 non-consecutive days in the top spot of the Sanlida World Archery Ranking lists as of 31 December 2023, having passed Sara’s 1445 days earlier in the year.

It is a new record in the World Cup era.

“It’s a long time. Puts things into perspective,“ said Mike. “Archery, for me, is just trying to become better every day, always pushing myself. And not lose the joy in the meantime. It seems to work!”

Having first ascended to the top spot in the world ranking in May 2015, nearly two years after he won the world championships as a 19-year-old, Mike’s latest stint at the top started on 24 May 2021 and currently stands at 951 days.

Should he remain ranked first until 25 March 2024, he will also break Lopez’ consecutive record of 1035 days, too.

Neither archer has ranked outside the top three since the start of the 2015 season.

In a sport often decided by the smallest of margins, Schloesser has consistently been able to win.

He’s collected four Hyundai Archery World Cup Champion trophies (2016, 2019, 2021, 2022) in eight appearances, three individual podiums at the World Archery Championships and set the highest scoring rate in a season (9.88 points per arrow) in history in 2022.

Schloesser, Ella Gibson, Marcus D’Almeida and Lim Sihyeon end the year holding the number one positions in the Sanlida World Archery Ranking lists.