Stuart Atkins claims two gold medals at Crossbow World Championships

The Bowning Hill resident recently returned from the Crossbow World Championships in Germany, which were held from June 6 to June 10.

Atkins claimed two gold medals during his time in Ennigerloh, and said that the break he took from the sport between 2000 and 2013 seems to have worked wonders.

"I started in 1990 and did it for ten years," Atkins said.

"I came back to it in 2013/14, and was shooting better when I came back than before I stopped."

Going into the competition, Atkins did not know what to expect. He had previously competed in the 2015 and 2017 World Championships, held in Florida and South Australia respectively.

The two gold medals from Germany takes Atkins' tally to 11 medals in World Championships overall: six gold, two silver, and three bronze.

However, the scene was entirely different this time around, and the German competition was much windier and technically more difficult.

But for Atkins, the conditions played right into his hands.

"There was 20 or 30 [kilometre per hour] winds, and it was not affecting me greatly," Atkins said.

"My approach to the shooting is, I'll shoot my game and let them make the mistakes. It takes the stress out of it for me."

After a shaky first game of the Championships, Atkins settled into a good rhythm and hit a strong run of form for the remainder.

To make his results even more impressive, Atkins only competes in the men's open divisions.

While there are often contestants over 30 in crossbow shooting, at 60, Atkins is certainly on the older end of the scale.

Yet he still manages to maintain the extremely high quality of his performances.

The assurance he has in his technique may be a result of Atkins' initial education. As there were no crossbow coaches or instructors available when he took up the sport, he had to teach himself.

While unconventional, it certainly seems to have been successful for Atkins.

Upon his return, the Bowning Probus Association awarded Atkins for his achievement with a surprise presentation ceremony last Friday.