Becerra currently leads both thanks to her two World Cup stage wins this year (Florida and Antalya) and has expressed her determination to keep the top spot ahead of the World Games in Chengdu next month.
Gibson, who once held the world number one position for nearly 1000 consecutive days, said she’s learnt to let go of that pressure.
“I spoke to my coach [Ron van der Hoff] about it this morning because I was a little worried about it, like maybe it will, maybe it won’t.”
“I spoke to my coach [Ron Van Der Hoff] about it this morning because I was a little worried about it – like maybe it will, maybe it won’t,” she said. “He told me honestly: ‘That’s the least of your worries. You’ve had it for three years. It doesn’t matter if someone else wants it’.”
“Number one is just the consequences of winning doing your shooting, so focus on that and if it’s meant to be, it will be.”
With the World Games and Hyundai World Archery Championships both on the horizon, the rivalry between Gibson and Becerra looks far from over.
Meanwhile, in the compound men’s final, four-time Archery World Cup Champion Mike Schloesser added another major win to his collection – defeating Türkiye’s Emircan Haney to take gold just hours after winning the mixed team title with Sanne de Laat.
Schloesser, widely known as ‘Mister Perfect’, also recently became a father with the birth of his daughter Luna – and said this medal felt particularly emotional.
“You have a certain expectation of the training routine, getting ready for competitions, but it wasn’t like that,” admitted Schloesser, who revealed he was fearing his performances coming into Madrid. “You’re not in your A-game, but during the week I had a lot of practice to gain my level and confidence back.”
Competition in Madrid concludes with recurve finals on Sunday.
