Schloesser had been world number one without a break since 24 May 2021, a reign of 1,582 days, the longest for any compound archer and the longest continuous stretch for any archer.
Many regard Schloesser as the greatest compounder in history, and after finally capturing the World Games title earlier this year, he has now won every single major target competition available. He also became a father earlier this year.
“I had a really good year – I won two World Cups, I won the World Games, I’ve been shooting good. I think I’ve just been unlucky at the World Championships and that kind of cost me the number one spot at the end,” said Mikey.
“I don’t think that fatherhood made a big difference – it’s definitely not easier, but I think it was a welcome change in my perspective. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
“For Mathias, I see a lot of me in him as well. He just loves archery. I saw it in myself at the time when I was his age. And that’s necessary. You need to have the passion to commit to a lot of hours of training and tuning. We talk a lot about it as well. And I think that’s the reason why he’s the number one at the moment. It’s well-deserved.”
“Of course, I’m going to be fighting to take the number one spot back. I want to add more days to the list of being number one. I’m definitely going to be fighting for that,” he said.
But Fullerton, who has remained in the top ten since July 2022, has always made his ambition clear, particularly after his breakthrough win in Vegas in 2024.
So what’s next? “That’s the question I’ve been asking myself so many times now. And I’m not fully
sure yet,” said Fullerton.
“But I think pushing the limits of what’s possible with my own mind, my own body, my bow, my equipment, my everything.”
“I’ve got a couple of goals. I want to win the world champs. I want to beat the world record in qualifying. It would be cool to beat Mike’s record of being number one, but I could only do that when I’m 26 or 27. So I’ll take that as it goes, but hopefully stay number one as long as I can.”
“It was all about the journey and not the destination. Even all the ups and downs I’ve enjoyed every single thing from there to here. Honestly, I would almost like to have battled a bit longer until I hit number one. But hitting it now is just awesome.”
