As we are just two years away from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the world rankings in outdoor archery continue to fluctuate. Brady “The Arizona Cowboy” Ellison established himself back at the top of the outdoor archery rankings. Ellison just took over the No. 1 ranking spot over Korea’s Lee Woo Seok. Ellison holds the record for longest continuous period as the No. 1 ranked men’s recurve archer (August 2011-2013). It appears the 32-year old is looking towards making another run.
Ellison is no underdog by any means. He is a seasoned veteran in the sport, once earning the nickname “The Prospector” during the 2015 World Championships for his ability to find the golden circle on the target. That’s why his overtaking of the No. 1 ranking is truly special.
A Golden Resume
Ellison is the equivalent of Tiger Woods to golf, but for archery. From Leovegas India to other top online platforms, Ellison can always be counted on as one of the favorites to win the championship. Between the Olympic Games, World Championship Games, Pan American Games, World Cup, World Indoor Championships, World Games, and World Field Championships, Ellison owns 17 gold medals.
On top of that, he also has nine silver medals and eight bronze medals. However, what makes his comeback so spectacular is that he has never won a gold medal. He has only secured a silver and a bronze. Ellison last won a gold medal at the World Championships in Dublin in 2016. Now that he is the No. 1 ranked archer in the world, can Ellison finally get the monkey off his back?
The Experience
Ellison wasn’t always a great athlete. As a child, Ellison suffered from Legg-Calve-Perthes disease and had to wear leg braces for a year. However, he was able to conquer those adversities and eventually became an avid hunter. That led to a successful Olympic career.
In 2008 in Beijing, Ellison finished his ranking round with 654 total points, which gave him the 15th seed. He did not medal that year, but worked his way towards a top spot on the USA Archery’s Olympic Trials team in 2012. Along with Jake Kaminski and Jacob Wukie, the American team won a silver medal. In 2016 at Rio, Ellison won the bronze medal as an individual. With the amount of experience he owns, he will likely be a contender for a top-3 placement in 2021.
Taken from Pixabay
Pandemic? No Problem
During the pandemic, Ellison has been handling it better than anybody. Him and his wife welcomed a baby boy. On the side, Ellison has continuously trained and nobody is shooting better than him right now. If the Olympics were not pushed back due to COVID-19, Ellison’s hot hand likely would have shot him to the top of the standings. Instead, the summer games are pushed back to 2021. We have a whole year until the world competes, but look out for the veteran. It appears that the pandemic has not slowed him down, which makes him a very lovable archer going into the competition.