2 August 2011 - Athlete of the Week: Braden GELLENTHIEN (USA)

Braden GELLENTHIEN (USA): “I like to work hard and play harder!” Ogden (USA) – 2 August 2011
With coach Kisik LEE and team mates BROADWATER and WILDE in Ogden 2010    A well-known figure of the archery world since 2003, Braden GELLENTHIEN just won his fifth compound team world title in Turin in July. Braden is competing at the Ogden World Cup this week, where he is the defending champion.  
Braden GELLENTHIEN discovered archery at age 11 in a local club scout camp. He wasn’t very good at it in his first try, but enjoyed the sport and asked his parents to buy him a bow. His first major success came six years later, when he won his first team world championships gold medal as well as the individual bronze in New York – a great accomplishment for a 17-year-old !
  
Braden has represented the United States in all the World Archery Championships that have been held since then – and he has won the team title every time. The second came in 2005 in Madrid and the third in 2007 in Leipzig. At that last competition, he made his way to the individual gold medal final, where he shot against Dietmar TRILLUS (CAN). In a very close and stressful match, the archers tied at 29-29, 57-57, 87-87 and 116-116. GELLENTHIEN lost this final in the shoot-off (9 to 10) ; nonetheless with the silver medal he achieved his best ever individual finish in a World Championships.
 
2007 was GELLENTHIEN’s best year in terms of results. Besides his World Championships medals, he also became indoor world champion in Izmir. In April, he made an impressive debut at his first appearance on the World Cup circuit at stage 2 in Varese, Italy. He not only won the team, but also the individual gold medal, edging teammate Joshua BINGER 115-115 (10-10, 10-10, 9*-9).
 
These good results brought Braden to the World Cup Final in Dubai. He qualified for the gold medal final against the Salvadorian star Jorge JIMENEZ. The match was very tight, with both archers shooting very consistently. The score was tied at 59-59, out of a possible 60, halfway through. With the next three arrows, JIMENEZ shot three 10s, GELLENTHIEN shot 10-10-9 and the score was now 89-88 in favour of his contender. With 10-9-9 in the last end, the American did not manage to put enough pressure on the experienced Salvadorian, and had to settle for silver.
 
GELLENTHIEN started 2009 with a victory at World Cup stage 1 in Santo Domingo, defeating Patrizio HOFER (SUI) 113-112 in the final. He also won the team gold medal on that occasion.
 
Good results over the season brought the young American to the World Cup Final in Copenhagen. In the semifinals he faced Jorge JIMENEZ in what was a revenge of the 2007 Final. GELLENTHIEN shot nothing but 10s in this match, for a perfect total of 120! With eight x10s, he set a new world record in the compound men’s division photo. “Since we will change the competition format next year, maybe I will keep this world record forever!” said a delighted GELLENTHIEN.
   
In the gold medal final, GELLENTHIEN led Sergio PAGNI (ITA) 58-57 after the first half. However the Italian made a comeback in the third end with 30 points, while GELLENTHIEN scored “only” 29. The two were tied at 87-87 with three arrows to go. A bad 8 cost Braden the gold medal. PAGNI took the victory by just one point, 115-114.
  
A similar scenario happened in the year 2010. GELLENTHIEN again qualified for the World Cup Final, thanks, most notably, to a victory at the Ogden 3rd stage. After losing the World Cup Final to PAGNI in 2009, GELLENTHIEN was keen to take revenge in 2010 in his gold medal final against the Italian. Shooting under the new set system and in windy conditions, he had to settle for silver once again.
  
The year 2011 brought more successes to Braden. In July, he won his fifth team title at the World Championships in Turin, Italy. On that occasion, along with teammates Jesse BROADWATER and Reo WILDE, he broke two team world records, the 24 Arrow Final Match (50m), set at 239 points ; and the 50m Round (3 x 72 Arrow) set at 2130 points.
  
Braden in Ogden this week, competing at the World Cup stage 3. We asked him to break away from his training and answer a few questions.   What do your five world team titles mean to you? It’s really, really important to me, it’s a great achievement. I like shooting the team round. The US compound team is very strong and I have a lot of trust in the other two members. Reo and I always seem to shoot well together. We’ve never lost a team round match when we’ve shot together and it’s really nice being able to compete with two other people that I enjoy shooting with.
    
The only World Championships that I missed were the 2005 Indoor World Championships. It was my first year of University and I didn’t have time to go to the trial tournament, but I’m the only one who’s made every World Target Championships US team since 2003.
    Which one of these two victories would you chose : individual World Cup Final or a World Championships title and what is the ingredient you need for such a victory? Ah…..it’s a really tough decision. The World Championships would mean more emotionally, because it’s one event every two years and it’s a really big deal, but financially the World Cup Final, it’s a lot more money to win that, so it’s kind of a big challenge too, I want to win that more.   In Turin, the new world champion Christopher PERKINS (CAN) defeated you in the quarterfinals (149-149, 10/10) and then your compatriots Reo WILDE in the semifinal 148-147 and Jesse BROADWATER in the final. What do you think of his victory? He earned it. He shot really well in the match play. When he beat me in the quarterfinals we had the highest score on the field at 149 and he beat me in the shoot-off. I told him at the target, ‘well you know now that you took me out, you need to win the whole thing’, and he did. It was really cool to watch, he shot well. He didn’t get lucky : he faced the best shooters in the world and he won.  How do you feel about the new 50 meters format, knowing that an archer can win a match by just 1 point or in a shoot-off? It’s been the same at every distance; at 70 meters there were a few more points between the archers but now it’s very tight. It means a little bit more luck and chance come into play when it’s that close. One bad arrow will be the difference in the score and at 70 meters you could overcome that while at 50 you can’t. I’d like to see maybe more of a set play over 15 arrows, maybe best two out of three 15-arrow matches to move on. I think that would allow more favourite archers to advance further.   What makes the difference at such a high level between two archers? You all have the same level on the shooting line. It’s more of a mental preparation than a physical one at that point. Whoever can stay calm and not have their form change under pressure is normally the winner.
  
Do you keep calm on the shooting line? Oh no. I just try to keep my shots the best I can, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. We’ll see what happens this weekend (laughs).   Do you have a special mental preparation? Yes, I try to visualize the events beforehand and I try to make myself nervous when I’m training so that I can overcome it and then do better in the tournament.   You train under the guidance of coach Terry WUNDERLE (the father of 2008 Olympian Vic WUNDERLE). How did you start training with him? He actually held a seminar, a coaching session at our local club. I went and he told me that within 3 months I would be quitting archery. My form was bad and my mental attitude was worse. And he was right, within 3 months I had target panic, I couldn’t draw the bow or anything. I was really stubborn and I didn’t shoot for about a year. Then I wanted to start again and I learned his way, very reluctantly ; then I called him on the phone and told him that I was willing to make the changes and willing to work, and we started doing video coaching, where I’d videotape my form and send it to him and he’d make critiques and call me back and tell me what was going on. He worked really well and then I’d fly to his house and make changes there. That was in 2001. He’s really the reason that I’m shooting as well as I am today.   How do you see yourself as an archer in the future ? Do you think you will still shoot professionally let’s say 10, 15 years from now? It’s a long time. I know that in the next five years I will still be shooting professionally. Ten, fifteen years I don’t know.  
What do you do besides archery?
I graduated at University in 2008, so since then I’ve been shooting my bow full time. I usually train 4-5 hours a day and then work on my equipment for another hour or two. Then poker, a little bit of everything. I fish a lot and a little bit of golf with friends once in a while ; it’s nice to have a little bit of relaxation time as well as training time. I like to work hard and play harder ! Archery is my job, but it is important to go and have fun and continue to live life, because that’s what we’re here to do.   Is it possible to make a living out of archery? Yes, I’ve been doing this for the last few years, so that’s my only source of income. It is kind of stressful because you need to win to make money, but it’s the drive to continue to shoot and continue to succeed.   Last year you were the winner here in Ogden. What about this year? I’m shooting well, we’ll see what happens. I’m shooting better than I was last year, so… I switched to some new equipment which seems to be a little more forgiving to me. I’ve been working a lot on my form as well, I think that’s the major difference.   Biography Extract:   Braden GELLENTHIEN (USA) – Born 26 April 1986 in Boston (USA)   1st Team World Archery Championships – Turin 2011 5th Individual World Archery Championships – Turin 2010 2nd individual World Cup Final – Edinburgh 2010 1st Individual World Cup Stage 3 – Ogden 2010 2nd Individual World Cup Final – Copenhagen 2009 1st Team World Archery Championships – Ulsan 2009 1st Team Indoor World Archery Championships - Rzeszow 2009 1st Individual World Cup Stage 1 - Santo Domingo 2009 2nd Individual World Cup Final – Dubai 2007 1st Individual World Cup Stage 2 – Varese 2007 1st Team World Archery Championships - Leipzig 2007 2nd Individual World Archery Championships - Leipzig 2007 1st Individual Indoor World Archery Championships - Izmir 2007 1st Team World Archery Championships - Madrid 2005 1st Team World Archery Championships - New York 2003 3rd Individual World Archery Championships - New York 2003   World Records   12 Arrow Final Match Individual 120/8 2009 70m Round (3 x 72 Arrow) Team (with Dave COUSINS and Reo WILDE) 2114 2010 50m Round (3 x 72 Arrow) Team (with Reo WILDE and Jesse BROADWATER) 2130 2011 24 Arrow Final Match (50m) Team (with Reo WILDE and Jesse BROADWATER) 239 2011  
More results information on Braden GELLENTHIEN and all other archers at the World Archery website.  
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