Great Britain ended their week on a high in Shanghai 2025, the second stage of the Hyundai World Cup, winning their first compound mixed team stage final for six years.
A full squad of British compounders travelled to China but all six were eliminated in the individuals as were the respective men and women teams. They will not leave China emptyhanded though as Ajay Scott and Ella Gibson edged Türkiye by three points [156-153] in the usual compound accumulative system.
“When I was on the podium, the flag was there and the anthem was playing, all I was thinking was ‘That’s where it should be’,” said compound women world number one Gibson. “Our flag should be in the middle at the top of the podium and it’s so nice to put it back there again. I can’t wait to see it there again.”
There were moments on the midweek shooting line where Gibson, Scott and co were visibly upset, frustrated that their long journey from home looked set to be in vain and the pair’s success in reaching the stage on Friday morning warranted the wild celebrations from their supporting compatriots.
Berlin 2019 was the last time the nation triumphed in the discipline, when Gibson was in the infancy of her career, travelling around archery’s premier international circuit for the first time.
Six years in sport however is an awfully long time and Gibson has grown to become one of the best compound women athletes in the world since then, that triumph only one of many.
Now with 21-year-old archer Scott by her side instead of James Mason at the Riverside Financial Plaza, Gibson may have found the mixed team partner she’s been looking for since, just in time for LA28, compound’s Olympic debut.