Mathias Fullerton ends Schloesser’s reign to become world number one

Denmark’s Mathias Fullerton became the compound men’s world number one on 22 September, ending Mike Schloesser‘s four year reign at the top.

“I don’t know what to feel but obviously a little little bit emotional in some way,” said Fullerton. “You know, it’s the goal I’ve worked for ever since I was a little boy.”

“I remember wanting to join the youth national team, and they thought maybe I was a little bit too young, but anyway I had a meeting with them, and they asked me what my goal was, and I remember clearly that even at that young age I said I want to become world number one, and that‘s just been the goal ever since.”

“Now to have done it at the age of 22 is pretty surreal, it doesn‘t really seem real yet. But I keep looking at the ranking, just looking at it, and... yeah.”

Fullerton gained the honour after winning the individual European field title in Ksiaz, Poland on Saturday, just a couple of weeks after becoming runner-up at the world championships in Gwangju.

The points boost coincided with Schloesser taking a standard points reduction from his world field win in Lac La Biche after 12 months. (Ranking points are kept for 24 months, but a multiplier reduces them in value after 12 months.)

“I was more anxious shooting on the final stage in the European field championships, because I never really shot a big field tournament, and I really only went there for world ranking points,” said Fullerton.

“Right after I won the final, I knew it would be close, but I had my national coach and some other people text me like, ‘Hey, you‘re actually gonna do it’. And I was like, ‘No way’. I didn‘t want to believe it at first ‘cause like you don‘t want to get your hopes up.”

Schloesser had been world number one without a break since 24 May 2021, a reign of 1582 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 in May. 

“I had a really good year – I won two World Cups, I won the World Games, I‘ve been shooting good,” said Schloesser. “I think I‘ve just been unlucky at the World Championships and that kind of cost me the number one spot at the end.”

“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 added. 

But Fullerton, who has remained in the top 10 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.”