38 Archers Clean after Vegas 2016 Day 1

Every year, after three days of shooting 30 arrows a day, there are over a dozen compound men with a perfect 900 points. (Shooting on a 4cm 10-ring, rather than the normal World Archery 2cm circle.) Those who haven’t dropped a point head into a high-pressure shootdown, where you’re out if you miss the middle.

Each day of the tournament, each year, more and more athletes drop a point and put themselves out of the running for a perfect Vegas 900. In 2016, just 34 archers in total made it though the first day without putting an arrow out of the 10.

“With the big arrows and the big 10 as a buffer – so you tend to be more relaxed,” said Jesse Broadwater, who did shoot a perfect 300 – and led the day’s X-count. “The X-count matters to be personally but I’m not competing against anybody. I’m just here and focusing on my shot routine.”

Despite the fact that this year’s Vegas tournament is the biggest in its history – with over 3,000 archers competing – the 34 clean after one day is the lowest number over the last four years of the event.

The reason for the decrease? Perhaps the pressure of the prize money, the pressure of the larger field… or just an anomaly. After all, with so much on the line, it doesn’t take much for one arrow to slip away.

Rise of the Women

The compound women’s competition in Vegas hasn’t reached the competitive heights of the compound men’s event… yet. But it’s getting tighter, every single year. In fact, 2016 matches the same number of day-one perfect shooters in the women’s competition than the previous three years combined: Four.

While the men’s count has decreased, the women’s is on the rise. (And while it might be a smaller number, it’s important.)

The Lucky Dog

Don’t forget, in the compound men’s championship at Vegas, all the archers that score 899 – that’s one point dropped from perfect – enter the Lucky Dog tournament. They all shootdown until only one remains, and he enters the final shootdown with the 900-point archers.

The Lucky Dog either wins the whole tournament or drops down to last place of the finalists.

No Lucky Dog has ever won Vegas…