As breakout years go, 2022 has been pretty special for archery’s new golden girl Ella Gibson.

The 22-year-old has taken the sport by storm over the past few months, rising to number one female compound archer in the world thanks to some some quite superlative performances, performances that included dethroning the previous number one Sara Lopez in a thrilling head-to-head duel.

That win over the Colombian in Birmingham, Alabama, back in July, saw her win gold at the World Games, an event held in the same esteem as the OIympics by those who take part.

“It takes place only once every four years and features sports that aren’t in the Olympics,” Ella told The Local Answer. “It’s the Olympics for non-Olympic sports.”

Not surprisingly, she regards that as her biggest win so far, but it’s certainly not the only gold medal that she’s taken back to her parents’ home in Cirencester this year because she’s also won three World Cup events – in Turkey, Paris and Colombia – as well as the European Indoor title in Slovenia at the start of the year.

And she’s got power to add, too, because in October she’s competing in the World Cup finals in Mexico, another showpiece occasion for the sport when she will again be the one the others have to beat.

It’s fair to say that the former Deer Park School pupil has come a long way since first being introduced to the sport as a 14-year-old.

“Deer Park Archers came to my school and did a taster session,” recalled Ella. “It was one hour a week for six weeks. I tried it, liked it and was naturally decent at it.

“They suggested I take it up as a hobby and I joined the club when I was 15.”

The rest, as they say, is history, but although it quickly became obvious to everyone at Deer Park Archers that Ella had a special talent, it soon became apparent she also had the right mindset to succeed too – she knew what she wanted and she knew what she had to do to get there.

“I initially shot barebow and I broke national records and won national titles,” she said. “But I wanted to compete for Great Britain and barebow wasn’t recognised internationally.”

So what did she do?

“I switched to compound,” she said very matter-of-factly, although for a 16-year-old that was obviously a pretty big decision.

It was a good decision, though, because by the age of 17 she had got her wish and was shooting for Great Britain, flying out to South Dakota to take part in the world indoor championships.

“I came ninth,” she recalled. “I wasn’t happy, I thought it was terrible, I have very high expectations.”

Indeed she does which is one of the reasons why she is on top of the world rankings now, of course.

“Mindset is so important in archery, it’s a very mental sport,” she said. “In most other sports, the more you want it, the better you do, but that’s not the case with archery.

“You have to stay level, very calm. You have to be consistent, you have to do the same action again and again. It’s similar to golf, the psychology is the same. You have to control your breathing and be steady under pressure.”

But while the mental side is very important, there are physical attributes that you need as well to rise to the top of the sport.  

“Physically it helps if you are fairly strong, it’s a big advantage,” she said. “We have to lift a lot of physical weight on the bow, we are pulling back 60lbs of weight with each shot.

“You need good core strength and stability in your trunk, especially in this country when you can be competing in very windy conditions.”

Fortunately, Ella is pretty strong.

“Genetically, I’m a strong person but I do a lot of strength and conditioning work,” she said. “I train hard and shoot a lot, I’m what we call ‘bow fit’.”

She needs to be too because compound archers shoot higher weights than in other disciplines and when competing have a set timeframe in which to shoot their arrows no matter the conditions.

“It’s a bit more technical than other disciplines,” she said. “It’s much smaller and more compact than the traditional bow but it’s very powerful.

“We have a magnified scope on the bow and it’s a game of accuracy and steadiness, which is a little bit different than other bows.

“With compound, it’s normally about how many did you miss, not how many did you hit.”

Happily, Ella doesn’t miss too many. Certainly not in that final against the aforementioned Lopez, a final that she remembers as though it was yesterday.

“Honestly, it felt so amazing,” she said. “I make a goal at the beginning of each year and my aim this year was to get into the world top 10.

“To be number one now is quite incredible, that was my aim for 2024 or 2025.

“But it was really important to beat the world number one, I had never shot against her before.

“It’s funny because I was competing for gold at the World Games for the first time and also to be world number one.”

And if she has her way, she’ll be number one for a long time to come.

“You can still be very competitive in your 40s if you stay fit,” she said. “You need to keep training, keep your body right and happy, and keep your mind right.”

Archery is Ella’s full-time job – she is supported by sponsors and her success this year has meant more prize money – so it’s no surprise to hear her say she’s very happy with her chosen career path.

She’s easy to interview and when she spoke to The Local Answer she was heading to Lilleshall for a training session before preparing to commentate on the European Youth Games the following day and then handing out awards.

“I went to Cirencester College to do my A levels,” she said. “I remember competing for Great Britain as a junior in Greece and I was typing up my work on the plane!

“I got an A* in the exam so it was all good, but then I made the senior GB team and I thought, ‘Let’s see what happens’.

“In 2019 I won three World Cup team medals and I thought, ‘Wow, I can do this, let’s go for it, I don’t want any regrets’.”

She doesn’t have any regrets, of course, and she certainly doesn’t have any regrets about her time with Deer Park Archers, a club with 200-plus members and their own ground in Shurdington.

“They played a big role in my development,” said Ella. “They introduced me to the sport, they locked me into the sport, they got me on the Great Britain team, they taught me a lot.

“They also gave me two pieces of wisdom which I still remember to this day.”

And they are?

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work,” said Ella.

And the second one?

“Every minute you’re not practising or training, someone else somewhere else in the world is,” Ella said, adding with a laugh, “That was quite terrifying but motivating too. I remember thinking, ‘Oh Jesus, I’d better go and practice!’”

She did, of course, and the rewards have been obvious!