Brady Ellison is the face of American archery, heck, the face of archery worldwide, with a No.1 ranking and friendly personality t’boot. Then he was eliminated in the men’s individual Round of 16 on Wednesday, a shocking turn and one of the most unexpected results in the 2012 London Olympics .
Australia’s Taylor Worth defeated Ellison 7-1 in set points, with 112 points overall compared to 106 for Ellison. Worth was ranked No. 44 in the world before entering the event. Jacob Wukie, Ellison’s teammate, also lost in the Round of 16, losing 6-2 to Beard Nesteng from Norway. Finally, American Jake Kaminski lost to Dan Olaru of Moldova, also in Round of 16. Kaminski’s loss left the U.S. with no archers in the semifinals, reports Yahoo!News.
Ellison’s surprising and disappointing loss shattered the high hopes placed on him that he himself was acutely aware of. “There’s a lot of hype and stuff right now surrounding me. You can be the face of this, or you could be the face of that. I feel very blessed and fortunate that people try to make me that,” he said prior to the competition.
Regardless, Ellison identifies as an Olympian for life. He has a tattoo on his right arm of the Olympic rings, bearing the inscription “Beijing 2008,” inked after he was accepted onto the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, reports VH1. “I put it on my forearm because when I’m at full draw, it would be in all the pictures,” he said of the tattoo.
Ellison is taking home a silver medal, from a team competition win on Saturday, reports azcentral .
