USA’s Olympic mixed team medallists pole in the Chicago Open
Recurve men’s world number one Brady Ellison and women’s number two Casey Kaufhold shone in The Great Chicago Open, the fifth stage of the Indoor Archery World Series, attaining the top seed positions in their respective categories.
The US duo won the Olympic mixed team bronze medal together in Paris 2024 last summer, and there was no doubt of their quality in Illinois on Saturday afternoon as recently crowned Nimes winner Ellison scored a remarkable 597 in the 600-arrow qualification round and Pan American Champion Kaufhold dropped 591.
“I’m happy with how I shot my bow overall today,” said Lancaster born Kaufhold, whose score was seven points higher than second seed Gaby Schloesser‘s at 584. “I definitely had some moments where I got nervous and broke down a little bit but overall it’s a good score.”
“At the end of the day, the score’s the score. It doesn’t really matter how you shot it.”
Although there was little to worry about for Kaufhold, Devaang Gupta went tit for tat with four-time Olympic medallist Ellison in the recurve men’s qualifying in front of the latter’s home supporting fans, an impressive feat on its own considering the 24-year-old Gupta is yet to even win a senior international medal.
The Canadian shot 595, just two points off his American counterpart in Festival Hall, that included 56 10s, three nines and a single eight making him the second seed heading into the afternoon’s eliminations.
“Shooting felt good overall,” he said. “There were a couple loose arrows that I wish I could take back but that’s generally the case.”
“I’m not thinking too much about the gold medal, just one match at a time,” added Gupta, when asked about potentially picking up his first podium. “Let’s go through the matches and see how it goes.”
The 2024 World Archery Field Championships compound men’s gold medallist Mike Schloesser continued his stellar form in the 2025 indoor season as he became the only archer of the day in all four bow styles to score a perfect 600.
To say the aptly nicknamed ‘Mister Perfect’ is in a rich vein of form is an understatement.
The Dutchman is aiming to win his fourth individual Indoor World Series stage of the season in Chicago following his triumphs in Lausanne, Strassen and Taoyuan City.
There are six stops in archery’s premier international indoor circuit this season, so should he do it, it would mean Schloesser would have won over half of the available competitions before heading to the Indoor Archery World Series Finals in Las Vegas next month.
“It’s awesome, the second one of this year,” said Schloesser on hitting yet another faultless 600. “It’s awesome to shoot and no matter how often you do this, it still was a nerve-wracking last end.”
The action starts again at 15h00 (local time) this afternoon with the eliminations followed by the medal finals.
Top seeds: The Great Chicago Open
- Recurve men: Brady Ellison, USA – 597
- Recurve women: Casey Kaufhold, USA – 591
- Compound men: Mike Schloesser, Netherlands – 600
- Compound women: Ella Gibson, Great Britain – 597
