30 May 2007 - Two new World Record Holders!

Two new World Record Holders! Antalya - 30 May 2007   All World Records are important, but two are more significant than the others: the 12 arrow match and the FITA Round. In Compound Women they have just been raised to new heights by two special archers, Jamie Van Natta (USA) and Gladys Willems (BEL). We caught up with them at the Antalya World Cup.      Jamie Van Natta (USA) Jamie, upon FITA official ratification, you set the 12-arrow match record at a perfect 120 points just three days ago. You would be the first woman to officially shoot a perfect score. How did it feel? It was at the New Jersey Gold Cup, one of the qualifying events for the US team. The weather was just perfect. It was a beautiful day, no wind. I was feeling good.   You also currently hold the 70m (36 arrows) and the 70m Round (72 arrows) World Records and set some others in the past. What is your secret? No secret, just hard work at practice and a bit of luck during competition. At the New Jersey Gold Cup, I also shot 1406 points at the qualifying FITA Round. That is my personal best and would have been a World Record, if Gladys had not put it a superb 1411 points just two weeks ago. Congratulations to Gladys, but we need to tell her that she should not blow the World Record by 7 points in one go. She should break it one point at a time… (smiling)   With 120 points in a match including seven X10s, you perfectly tied the men’s record of Dave Cousins (USA). What do you think about it? I think that in archery women should be capable of shooting as high scores as the men, so it was good to show it this time.   How do you feel today at the Antalya World Cup? As you can see, I am still smiling about my Sunday performance… My shots felt very strong at practice here and I am looking forward to an exciting competition!   Gladys Willems (BEL)    Gladys, you put the famous FITA Round World Record at an astonishing 1411 points in Women Compound two weeks ago. Can you take us through that day? It was in Goirle (NED) and I was just feeling great all day long. Although the weather was not perfect, I liked the conditions because the field was well protected by some trees. The day wasn’t very sunny and we got some small rain and wind at 50 and 30 metres. However, I jumped to such a great start of the competition. For the 70 metre distance I shot a Belgium record with 349 points. At 60 metres, I shot a World Record with 356. I was thinking: “maybe I can shot 1400 again like I did recently at the Varese World Cup.” Then, we had the lunch break and I felt a bit nervous at the start of 50 metres. However, I managed to shoot 347 points at this distance and my intermediary total was 1052 points. There I thought: “that’s amazing, this is 8 points ahead of my intermediary total in Varese!” I could carry all the good feeling through the 30-metre distance and I just got very nervous at the last arrow. Now, it is just a great feeling to have achieved 1411 points!   You came back to the best shape of your life and you already achieved a 3rd place at the Varese World Cup. Do you think you can qualify for the World Cup final? I am not thinking about this yet. We’ll see how it goes here in Antalya and I will plan the rest of my season depending on my result.   How have you been feeling since you arrived in Antalya? To be honest, this is not the easiest place to compete for me. It’s warm and the wind is tricky. My practice did not go too well. However, I just want to keep the fun in archery and I hope for the best!   Thank you and good luck to both of you!   Didier Miéville FITA Communication