17 September 2010 - Braden GELLENTHIEN (USA): "I’ve been working really hard and training hard so I am expecting to shoot very well"

Braden GELLENTHIEN (USA): "I’ve been working really hard and training hard so I am expecting to shoot very well" Edinburgh (GBR) – 17 September 2010   An archery star who started his successes in this sport at a very young age: Braden GELLENTHIEN (USA) entered the world of archery competition in 1996 at 10 years old. He is shooting this weekend at the Edinburgh 2010 World Cup Final.  Braden GELLENTHIEN discovered archery in 1996, aged 10 at a junior programme in the US. It was just one of the small activities he did. Braden GELLENTHIEN really enjoyed it, even though, back then he remembers not being that good.   How do you like Edinburgh? Have you ever been to Scotland before? The city is beautiful. I’ve never been to the UK, outside the airport, before.   What still drives you so much about the sport of archery? Personal, perfection. I try to better myself every day that I shoot. That and the prize money…   Could you share your experience in archery competition with us? I've been shooting since I was 10 years old. And this is really just a combination of all the hours of hard work that I put in. It’s really great to be on a world stage like this.   What was your best medal so far? The indoor world championship that I won back in 2007. My first senior world championship for the indoor round. I qualified and won the individual title! Unfortunately, I didn’t realise what I was doing back at that time. Looking back I wished I’d had a better understanding. I am really proud of that medal. I was only 21 so it was really nice to be out there shooting.   What would you do to get even better? Right now, I work on my fitness, my mental programme and mental capacities. I just need to increase my capacities that way. I feel like a lot of archers work on their form, and refining that. I just want to change the other aspects of my life to become a top competitor, top athlete.    What do you think of having eight people into the Finals instead of four? It puts less pressure to qualify for the Final but it puts more pressure here, because if you have 12 arrows that aren’t the greatest, you’re done. You don’t get any money. Before you got a pay check no matter what, now it is difficult.   Is the money the reason why you compete? I think the money is a big reason why a lot of us compete. In the end it is a job and this is what you got to do.   Do you think you have made a big achievement at a very young age? I think so. I am really happy of all the successes that I have. I am also very lucky to have the experience to travel around the world and everything like that. I feel like I am blessed to do that at such a young age; but at the same time I want to continue with the same pattern, same successes through the rest of my career.   You have even already broken some world records. Could you tell us more about your last World Cup Final in Copenhagen? I shot 120 with eight X10s. I did not really start thinking about the record until the last arrow. I didn’t take it for granted at any step of the match. I just kept shooting Xs and the last six arrows I shot five out of six in the X-ring. And it was an incredible feeling to share that with my family as well as all the spectators there to watch.   Katharina DZIACKO World Archery Communication