Zak Crawford, who is just 14, shot an arrow nearly 500 metres – an incredible 150 metres further than the previous record.
The teenager was competing in the senior under 35lb class using a recurve bow at the Northern Counties Flight Championships.
He also broke world records in the junior recurve and junior compound categories at the competition at RAF Church Fenton in Yorkshire.
Zak, who started the sport when he was just six, said he was “over the moon” at winning the hat trick of world records.
“I have been practising really hard but I certainly didn’t expect to come away from the competition with three world records, I’m over the moon,” he said.
“I managed to get the technique right on the day and I couldn’t believe it when the arrows went so far.”
Zak, who enjoyed watching Robin Hood films as a child, took up archery at the age of six after trying it at a fair. He became the youngest member of his local club and got into the county team at the age of seven and the East Midlands team two years later when he was just nine. He initially started with target shooting but was later introduced to Flight Archery, which is based on the distance an arrow travels.
“When I first began I was the youngest in my club and I found it very difficult as I was quite small and the bow was heavy,” said Zak, from Corby, Northants.
“But I really enjoyed archery and began training a lot so I soon got used to it.”
Zak now trains at Welland Valley Archery Club every night for three hours, firing 1,000 arrows each session.
“One of my Grandad’s friends does Flight Archery and he took me to a competition. I tried it and quite liked it,” he added.
“It involves a lot of hand and eye co-ordination and you need strength to draw the bow back.
“You also need to be committed to train, but unfortunately you can’t practise the long distances as you can only shoot that far on airfields.”
The world records come just weeks after Zak injured himself falling down the stairs.
“I fell down a flight of stairs and I thought I had broken my back, but I came through it and now I’m fine,” he said.
His Grandad Charles Wilson, who lives nearby in Corby and also does Flight Archery said he was very proud.
“He did brilliantly well. He totally destroyed the record,” he said.
Though Flight Archery is not an Olympic sport, Zak hopes to try for the 2016 games in Rio De Janeiro in target shooting and is looking for sponsorship.
“I’m still quite small for my age so my height is the biggest obstacle at the moment,” he added. “I hope I will be ready for the 2016 games.”
Flight Archery is the oldest type of archery and the only sort which does not involve a target. It is sometimes referred to as the Formula 1 of the sport.
Competitors have to shoot the arrows as far as they can and use a particular size and weight of bow and arrows that are specifically designed to fly for long periods in the air. They fire 24 arrows, then have an hour to find them. If they are broken they do not count. It costs around £300 for a set of 12 arrows, with each one taking 40 hours to make. The recurve bow is the only form of bow permitted in the Olympics.
Zak is already keen to break his new record.
“I want to try and get past 600 metres, that will be a really hard target to break and will take a lot of work but I’ll go for it,” he added.
