Stuart Atkins had to overcome just about everything, including having his crossbow stolen, to win gold at the world target championships in Germany.
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Atkins had to deal with a host of world class competitors and 30-kilometre winds across the two-day tournament, but produced a stellar performance with a crossbow he had only just finished constructing.
The veteran arbalist was forced to rebuild his bow after having most of his equipment stolen at the New Zealand championships earlier in the year.
"I had just finished my competition and I went and put my bow back in the car," Atkins said.
"Within about 30 minutes I heard an announcement over the loudspeaker describing a car that had been broken into and I thought, 'oh no that's my car.'
"I went back and sure enough the window had been smashed and my [bow] case had been taken.
"Your heart just drops out and you feel like crying, I just kept thinking 'why did this happen to me?"
Luckily for Atkins the crossbow stock - the centre piece which holds the bolts and trigger mechanism - had been left untouched.
But everything from the crossbow limbs to the arrows had been stolen, forcing Atkins to spend months rebuilding a new bow just so he could compete at the the tournament in Germany.
If that wasn't hard enough, Atkins also had to overcome an incredibly small target and huge gusts of wind in order to secure gold at the championships.
"We had to shoot three distances - a 65 metre, 55 metre and a 45 metre target," Atkins said.
"The target is multi-coloured with a small yellow centre that's about the width of your palm, so it is pretty hard to hit."
While his closest rivals struggled with the wind, Atkins thrived in the blustery conditions, thanks largely to the months of preparation he'd done in his own backyard.
"I've got a farm outside of Canberra, near Yass and one section of the farm is flat, so I set the equipment up there," Atkins said.
"I practice in the wind and I set up the equipment so it can handle the windy conditions, so I think I was a little more prepared than the other competitors."
Atkins broke three national records at an Australia Day archery tournament back in 2013, before taking home four gold medals at the world crossbow shooting championships in 2017.
Following the national indoor championships later this year, Atkins and his wife Frances will relocate to the UK, as the crossbowman looks to test his skills on a bigger stage.
"There is more opportunity for the sport [overseas], so hopefully there will be better competition there as well," Atkins said.
"It will also be nice just to take a long holiday and be a tourist for a bit."