Two-time world compound champion Gaby Schloesser of the Netherlands has used the Shanghai stage of the 2026 Hyundai Archery World Cup to open up about how motherhood has reshaped both her training and her relationship with the sport she has dominated for the past decade.
Schloesser, who became a mother to daughter Luna in 2024 and travels the World Cup tour with her archer husband Mike Schloesser, told World Archery she is in the middle of a season of recalibration.
"I feel stronger than before. Archery was the most important thing in my life before, and it still is, but in a different way now," she said.
The mechanics of an elite international schedule have not bent to her new circumstances. The training hours have. "The biggest challenge has been understanding that I don't have the same amount of time to train as I used to," Schloesser said. "The moments I'm at the shooting field are the only moments I have for myself – so I try to make the best out of it."
Schloesser admits to leaning on the calendar in a way she did not before Luna. "I think it was a bit too much. I'm going to slow down a little this season," she said. The plan, she added, was not to chase every event but to pick the ones that mattered. "Sometimes, as elite archers, we focus a lot on results and not on the process," she said. "I feel like becoming a mother influenced me in a really positive way."
The travel logistics of compound parents on tour are a story in themselves. Both Schloessers are reigning national team members; Mike, an Olympic medallist when compound makes its anticipated 2028 Games debut, has spoken openly in the past about the household balance.
"We didn't know what parenthood was going to bring," Gaby said. "How difficult it would be to manage training times and competitions, who goes where, if we can travel together... it's not easy."
The other story, she said, is the texture of the friends-and-family bubble that follows the tour. "It is really cool to see Luna growing up around all the people I love and all the people that support us," she said. "This year was more challenging because Luna was there."
Schloesser is conscious of the message her career sends to younger women considering returning to the line after children — a still-rare profile in compound's elite field. "I want athletes to know that becoming a mom changes a lot of things, but at the same time we still can do it," she said.
Schloesser has not announced her individual schedule for the rest of 2026 but is expected to skip at least one of the four remaining World Cup stages in favour of the September World Championships in Madrid. The European Outdoor Championships in Antalya from May 18 will be her next major test, with the Netherlands fielding a strong compound women's team behind her.
Whatever the season delivers, she said, it would be on terms she now sets herself.
"I feel stronger than before," she said one more time.
