CIRENCESTER archery star Ella Gibson overcame a logistical set-back to secure four gold medals at the 2023 Berlin Open.

Over the weekend of December 8-10, Cirencester’s Ella Gibson took part in Germany’s largest international indoor archery tournament – The Berlin Open 2023 in the Horst-Korber Sports Center.

The weekend did not start well for the world No. 1 Female Compound Bow Archer as her bow got lost in transit. With lots of help from her colleagues in the tournament, and from people at home in England continually contacting British Airways and Heathrow, Gibson's bow eventually made an appearance Friday lunchtime – just hours before starting to set up a whole new rig on Friday night.

The organisers of the Berlin Open Archery tournament were also helpful in moving her shooting session back a day to ensure that she would have a bow and a set up for it.

Gibson confessed that she struggled a bit in qualification, but her matches were “pretty smooth sailing”, doing just enough to keep winning and taking her to Gold on the Sunday afternoon.

“As soon as I hit the finals field, I felt all the adrenaline come back and that kept me focussed to shoot a really nice 148 and take the win for my third Gold in a row with my Darton Archery Exodus bow!” she said.

A thrilled Gibson, who has retained her No. 1 World place, was pleased overall with her performance gaining four Golds and one Silver medal out of her five tournaments.

After an exhausting couple of days shooting, and stress over her lost bow, she took a couple of days out to enjoy the wonderful German Christmas markets and have “a short break before hitting the ground running for Lancaster.”

The Lancaster Archery Classic – located at Spooky Nook Sports just outside Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA between January 25-28 – offers one of the most exciting archery tournament formats in the world.