Brady Ellison (born October 27, 1988) is an American archer who competes in recurve archery. He holds the record for the longest continuous period as the world number-one-ranked men's recurve archer, from August 2011 to April 2013. He earned his nickname "The Prospector" during the 2015 world championships due to his proclivity for 'finding gold'.[citation needed]

Brady Ellison
Ellison at the 2019 World Cup Final
Personal information
Full nameBrady Lee Ellison
Born (1988-10-27) October 27, 1988 (age 35)
Glendale, Arizona, U.S.
Height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[1]
Weight190 lb (86 kg)[2]
Medal record
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 0 2 1
World Championships 2 2 2
World Indoor Championships 2 0 2
Pan American Games 6 2 1
Total 10 6 6
Recurve archery
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2012 London Team
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Individual
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2013 Belek Team
Gold medal – first place 2019 's-Hertogenbosch Individual
Silver medal – second place 2013 Belek Mixed team
Silver medal – second place 2021 Yanktok Team
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Torino Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Yankton Individual
World Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Rzeszów Team
Gold medal – first place 2012 Las Vegas Team
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Las Vegas Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Nimes Individual
World Field Championships
Gold medal – first place 2014 Zagreb Individual
Gold medal – first place 2014 Zagreb Team
Gold medal – first place 2016 Dublin Individual
Gold medal – first place 2016 Dublin Team
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Cortina Individual
Silver medal – second place 2018 Cortina Team
World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2010 Edinburgh Individual
Gold medal – first place 2011 Istanbul Individual
Gold medal – first place 2012 Tokyo Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2014 Lausanne Individual
Gold medal – first place 2016 Odense Individual
Gold medal – first place 2019 Moscow Individual
Silver medal – second place 2012 Tokyo Individual
Silver medal – second place 2017 Rome Individual
Silver medal – second place 2021 Yankton Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Paris Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Samsun Individual
World Games
Silver medal – second place 2013 Cali Individual
Silver medal – second place 2017 Wrocław Individual
Silver medal – second place 2022 Birmingham Individual
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2007 Rio de Janeiro Team
Gold medal – first place 2011 Guadalajara Individual
Gold medal – first place 2011 Guadalajara Team
Gold medal – first place 2019 Lima Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2023 Santiago Team
Gold medal – first place 2023 Santiago Mixed team
Silver medal – second place 2015 Toronto Individual
Silver medal – second place 2015 Toronto Team
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Lima Team
Pan American Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 Medellín Team
Gold medal – first place 2018 Medellín Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Medellín Team

Personal life edit

As a child, Ellison suffered from Legg–Calvé–Perthes disease and wore leg braces for some time. He has had subsequent health issues with his knees, particularly in the lead-up to and during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and the fingers of his drawing hand.

Ellison married Slovenian archer Toja Černe (now known as Toja Ellison) in April 2016. He credits his wife with introducing him to alternative medicine, which was used to cure pain in his fingers in late 2018. The pair had their first child in November 2020.

Ellison started archery as a child in Arizona. Initially, Ellison shot with a compound and represented the United States internationally as a youth archer with the bowstyle. He switched to recurve on the recommendation of coaches at the national training center in Chula Vista, California, where he has spent much of his time.

Career edit

Olympics edit

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Ellison finished his ranking round with a total of 664 points, which gave him the 15th seed for the final competition bracket in which he faced John Burnes in the first round. Ellison won the match 111–89 and advanced to the second round. Here he was unable to beat another Canadian Jay Lyon, who was too strong with 113–107.[3] Together with Butch Johnson and Vic Wunderle he also took part in the team event. With his 664 score from the ranking round combined with the 653 of Johnson and the 652 of Wunderle the Americans were in 10th position after the ranking round. In the first round they lost to Chinese Taipei, 222–218.[4][5]

Ellison secured his spot for the 2012 Olympics at the USA Archery's Olympic Trials in Colorado Springs, Colorado.[6] He was sponsored by Solve Media,[7] Hoyt Archery, Easton Arrows, and Axcel Sight and Scopes, among others.[8] He won a silver team medal together with his teammates Jake Kaminski and Jacob Wukie.[9]

At the 2016 Rio Games, Ellison won an individual bronze medal, and a team silver medal with teammates Jake Kaminski and Zach Garrett.[2]

He represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. He lost to Mete Gazoz of Turkey in the quarterfinals of the men's individual event.[10]

World Championships edit

Ellison won medals at several editions of the World Archery Championships.

Two months after the 2020 Summer Olympics, he won the silver medal in the men's team event at the 2021 World Archery Championships held in Yankton, United States.[11][12] He also won the bronze medal in the men's individual event.[12]

The World Games edit

At three editions of The World Games (2013, 2017 and 2022), Ellison won the silver medal in the individual field recurve competition.

Other edit

In 2022, he won the men's recurve event at the Vegas Shoot held in Las Vegas, United States.[13]

Pop culture edit

Ellison appeared in an episode of the American-based TV show Mythbusters, where he helped to test the myth of the Ancient Greek 'arrow machine gun' (a mythical device that could fire arrows in a way similar to modern machine guns). With Ellison's help, the myth was deemed plausible.

Individual performance timeline in Outdoor Recurve edit

Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 SR
World Archery tournaments
Olympic Games 2R 2R 3rd QF 0/4
World Championships 3R 3R 3rd 2R QF 2R W 3rd 1/8
World Cup
Stage 1 3R 2R W W W 3R QF QF 3R QF 2nd W NH 2R 4/13
Stage 2 3R 4th 3rd W 3R QF QF 4th W 2nd 3R 3rd NH W 3/13
Stage 3 1R 2nd 3R 3R W 3R QF 3R 4R QF QF 4R W NH W 3/14
Stage 4 1R 3R 3R QF QF 4R QF 4R QF NH 0/9
World Cup Final DNQ DNQ DNQ W W 2nd 3rd W QF W 2nd 3rd W NH 2nd 5/11
End of year world ranking 19 16 14 2 1 1 8 6 5 2 5 7 1 1

References edit

  1. ^ "Brady Ellison". teamusa.org. United States Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on October 30, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Brady Ellison Archived September 2, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. rio2016.com
  3. ^ "Athlete biography: Brady Ellison". Beijing2008.cn. The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008.
  4. ^ "Brady Ellison – Olympics Athletes – 2008 Summer Olympics". ESPN. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  5. ^ "Shooting Staff". Hoyt Recurve. Archived from the original on August 2, 2012. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
  6. ^ Robinson, Tom. "Olympic Weekend Wrap-Up: June 4, 2012". teamUSA.org. Archived from the original on June 5, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  7. ^ Heitner, Darren. "American Olympians Competing For Gold In Archery And Weightlifting Find Timely Financial Support". Forbes. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  8. ^ "A WORD FOR BRADY'S SPONSORS...THANKS". BradyEllison.com. Retrieved July 18, 2012.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Brady Ellison". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on September 13, 2016.
  10. ^ Metcalfe, Jeff. "Arizona archer Brady Ellison qualifies for fourth Olympics". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  11. ^ Lloyd, Owen (September 24, 2021). "South Korea sweep team recurve finals at World Archery Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  12. ^ a b "2021 World Archery Championships Results Book" (PDF). IANSEO - Integrated Result System. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  13. ^ Wells, Chris (February 7, 2022). "Teenagers Bodie Turner, Liko Arreola win Vegas Shootdowns". World Archery. Retrieved March 6, 2022.

External links edit