When Nicolas Girard climbed to the top of the podium to become the new compound men’s World Archery Champion at Gwangju 2025, nobody could say they weren’t warned.
An exceptional run of results throughout the season had already made it clear that he posed a serious challenge to the dominance of Mathias Fullerton, Mike Schloesser and the rest of the world’s top contenders.
First came the European indoor champion. Then silver in Vegas – and almost, the big Vegas win itself.
Then gold in Antalya, his first Hyundai Archery World Cup outdoor stage medal since 2022. Starting as the 28th seed, he swept through the draw, beating top names including Rishabh Yadav and Michea Godano on his way to victory.
He followed that with bronze in Madrid, and came close to another podium in Chengdu.
At the Hyundai World Archery Championships in Korea, Girard qualified first, shooting a first half ahead of world record pace. But the title still had to be earned.
“The world final was pretty close,” said Girard. “Mathias is an incredibly skilled opponent. I gave 100% in this match because I knew he was capable of shooting a perfect game, scoring 150 out of 150, so I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.”
As so often happens in the biggest men’s finals, it came down to a single point – to who blinked first. In the end, Girard didn’t blink. He shot a perfect 150-149 win, with both archers clean through four ends before Fullerton landed a nine with his 13th arrow.
“The victory is a dream come true for me,” he said. “It gives me confidence and motivates me even more for the coming seasons.”
