Las Vegas, Nevada, USA - Archers across the globe are getting geared up for Vegas. You can read it in their Facebook posts, see it in their Tweets: all eyes are on Sin City.
Though Las Vegas offers top quality entertainment, perhaps none will be more exciting than the gold medal showdown at the World Archery Indoor Championships. Number one world ranked archer Brady Ellison, along with his teammates, is focused on winning the first-ever individual recurve men's gold medal for the U.S. in a World Indoor Championship.
At the recent European Indoor Tournament in Nimes, which also served as the second stage of the Indoor Archery World Cup, Ellison shot a near-perfect 597/600, setting a new U.S. record and tying the current world record.
Now he will be part of a U.S. team that seeks to defend the seven gold medals that the U.S. took at the last Championships in 2009. The U.S. squad will face many of the world's top teams in their quest for gold, including archers from Mexico, Ukraine, Italy, Canada, Russia, Belgium and France. Over 300 archers are expected to compete.
Competitors will gather at the South Point Hotel and Casino for the tournament, which opens February 5 with official practice beginning in the morning. Competition will kick off with a 60-arrow qualification round on February 6; team and individual elimination rounds will take place on February 7 and 8, in which archers and their national teams will compete in intense head to head match play.
Those archers and teams who survive the elimination rounds will compete in the medal matches of the World Archery Indoor Championships, scheduled to take place in the South Point's Equestrian Center Arena.
Potential medal contenders on the recurve side include Ellison, as well as Michele Frangili and Marco Galiazzo (ITA), Juan Rene Serrano (MEX), Italy's Natalia Valeeva, a multi-time world champion; 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Viktor Ruban (UKR); U.S. Olympians Jennifer Nichols and Victor Wunderle; and Mexico's Aida Roman and Alejandra Valencia.
For compound archers, the competition will be equally hot: look for strong performances from Martin Damsbo (DEN); Pierre Deloche (FRA); the duo of Dietmar Trillus and Chris Perkins from Canada; USA's Reo Wilde, Braden Gellenthien and Jimmy Butts; Albina Loginova (RUS); Marcella Tonioli (ITA); Ivana Buden (CRO); Gladys Willems (BEL); Christie Colin (USA); and Erika Anschutz (USA), the number one world ranked archer. Many of the world's top young archers will also be participating: most countries are sending both junior and senior teams.
The week's excitement continues on February 10, with the opening of the three-day NFAA World Archery Festival and final stage of the Indoor Archery World Cup. Over 1800 competitors are expected for this event, also at South Point; archers will compete for part of the World Archery Festival cash payout of over $165,000.
Athlete interviews and media credentials for this event are available upon request. Click here to request credentials and/or more information.
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