News

2026 Rules Information

The Technical Committee Field has prepared changes to the competition rules for the upcoming season 2026. 

Download the 2026 edition here. An overview of the changes is also available for download.

The 2025 edition of the Match Rules will be applicable also in 2026 as there were no changes.

Important Information on Match shooting clothing: The Technical Committee Match decided in its remote session on March 21, that the material restrictions will be checked using the 2025 ISSF rules during the entire 2026 season in order to grant the shooters a longer time period to adapt. Conformity with ISSF 2026 rules can be tested upon request but it will be not binding for IAU competitions during the 2025 season. The ISSF 2026 rules conformity will be enforced from January 1st, 2027 onwards.

These changes were approved by the Executive Committee during its remote meeting on March 22, 2026.

We remember Werner Hirt-Klöti (01.02.1940 – 05.04.2026)

The IAU announces with sadness the passing of Werner Hirt-Klöti, who died on 5 April 2026 at the age of 86 after a short illness. With him, crossbow sport loses a committed advocate, respected official and one of its most enduring journalistic voices.

Werner Hirt began his shooting career in 1956 with Schiessverein Schöfflisdorf, later serving the club as president from 1974 to 1985. In 1979 he founded his shooting sports agency, from which he followed and documented shooting sport for decades with exceptional consistency and expertise.

For crossbow shooting in particular, Werner Hirt was far more than a reporter. As editor-in-chief of Schweizer Armbrustschütze and as a long-standing communicator within the sport, he helped give crossbow shooting a stronger public profile in Switzerland and beyond. He was known as a bridge-builder, especially in periods when international sporting contacts still required personal courage, persistence and trust. His work connected athletes, officials and federations across borders and preserved an important part of the sport’s institutional memory.

His standing in the discipline was also reflected in his election as President of the IAU in 2003. Even beyond formal office, Werner Hirt remained identified with crossbow shooting through his loyalty, his independence of mind and his readiness to serve the sport wherever needed. For many in the IAU world, he represented seriousness, continuity and commitment. In his long history of offices held, he collected a row of distinctions and honorary memberships.

Alongside his crossbow work, Werner Hirt also rendered major service to the international Olympic shooting community. He was a member of the ESC Presidium for twenty years (1993–2013), after earlier chairing its Press Committee and Press and Promotion Committee, and in 2013 he was named an ESC Honorary Member, one of the rarest distinctions of the Confederation. He was also active in the broader international shooting environment, including high-level judging and media work.

Werner Hirt will be remembered with gratitude by his family, his friends and by generations of shooters and officials who knew his work. The crossbow community, in particular, has lost a grand personality of the sport and a man who helped shape its public record over many decades.

In Memoriam: Werner Homberger (7th March 1936 – 29th December 2025)

The International Crossbow Shooting Union (IAU) mourns the passing of its Honorary Member Werner Homberger.

Werner Homberger (SUI) dedicated his life to the sport of crossbow shooting and to the service of its institutions. He was elected to the IAU Technical Committee (Match) in 1991 and served with distinction as its Chairman from 1993 until 2006. Upon his retirement from this office, he was deservedly elected Honorary Member of the IAU.

His commitment to crossbow shooting extended far beyond the international level. Having joined the Armbrustschützenverein Oberwil in 1952, he held several key offices, including Schützenmeister and later President of the club, and was named an Honorary Member in recognition of his long-standing service. He was also an Honorary Member of the Zürcher Kantonal Armbrustschützenverband and the Eidgenössischer Armbrustschützenverband.

With Werner Homberger, the crossbow community loses a deeply respected sportsman, official, and companion whose dedication and integrity shaped generations of shooters.

The IAU will honor his memory with gratitude and respect, and extends its sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.

Season's Greetings 2026

IAU Match Crossbow World Cup Final 2025

Match Crossbow World Cup Final Closes the Saison in Winterthur

Swiss shooters invited the Match Crossbow world elite to Winterthur to finish the year full of competitions under full concentration, but also full of surprises. Entering the qualification, the tight ranking still allowed for many outcomes, not pointing out shooters in clear favorite roles.

The organizers provided a very nice and shooter-friendly environment on two separate ranges in Winterthur. The 10m range in Ohrbühl hosted the warm-up competition with Mixed Teams on Thursday Oct 2nd, and, on the next day, the qualification and final competition in the women and men categories. The range in Seen-Gotzenwil witnessed the qualification and the last final with 30m Open class shooters.

Friday, 3rd October: 10m Women and 10m Men

Along with the qualification and final, with procedures unchanged over years, the IAU successfully tested two new add-ons: live streaming in social media using 10 cameras and a result processing software (Resulty), which has the potential for being used in future IAU competitions.

In the women’s category, every participating nation had at least one representative in the finals. The entry had to be decided by a tie and even the 13th place was only one point apart from being eligible. Jolanda Prinz (GER) was watched very carefully, as she qualified on the 2nd place and her performance over the season had put her on the leading position of the world ranking. She ended up with silver medal, taken over by Lisa Roettelé (FRA), scoring 14 tens out of 16 shots and working her way up from the 7th qualification position towards the gold medal and the small crystal globe. Third place and bronze medal went to another French shooter, Eva Knorr, who had showed her potential even during the previous World Cup in Strasbourg.

Qualification data and the Finals protocol are presented by Resulty:

Men 10m:   https://tool.resulty.ch/competition/view/273401
Women 10m:   https://tool.resulty.ch/competition/view/273402

On the IAU YouTube channel, you can watch the livestream of the women’s finals.

The men delivered even more drama, when the shooters on the 7th and 8th qualification position rushed past the field and landed in the medal ranks. From 7th to 2nd: silver for Joël Brüschweiler (SUI) and from 8th to 3rd: bronze for Yonis Coquillon (FRA). But nobody could pass Simon Eiglsperger (GER) today. With 15 tens out of his 16 final shots he secured his first World Cup victory, taking the gold medal and the small crystal globe home.

Men’s finals livestream can be also watched on the IAU Youtube channel.

Saturday, 4th October: 30m Open Class

The athlete field moved from the hall into outdoor premises to close up the series of World Cups for 2025. The weather forecast from the day before announced trouble – and they came in the form of unpredictable wind gusts, varying from calm to blows in random directions. The qualification was still acceptable, but with the time coming the wind was more and more nasty. The first three placed qualifiers – Joël Brüschweiler (SUI), Louis Fürst (GER) and Thomas Debenne (FRA) collected valuable points for the world ranking, but stayed without medals after the final.

The final itself was a game of attention – the hit values were spread from 5s and 6s, over numerous 7s and 8s, up to 9s and very rare 10s. At the end, medals went to shooters from qualifying ranks 5, 6 and 7. Bronze went to Sven Bachofner (SUI), although consistent in the first shots, but the point loss at the 3rd to end shot was too big for securing the second place. This was conquered by Joëlle Baumgartner (SUI) by 1 point advance over Sven with the 15th shot.

Gold medal and the small crystal globe for the 30m Open Class winner went to Lisa Roettelé (FRA), making her the most successful shooter of the World Cup Final 2025.

Qualification data and the Finals protocol were presented by Resulty:

Open Class 30m:   https://tool.resulty.ch/competition/view/273403

A short reel of the first shot of the finals can be watched on the IAU YouTube channel.

 

Shooters of the Year: Prinz and Brüschweiler

The final competitions were also the last World Cup events, which were decisive for victory in the overall standings and determined who would win the big crystal globe.

5 crystal globes were to be distributed on Saturday, the last day of the finals. 3 small for the World Cup winners in 10m Men, 10m Women and 30m Open Class, and 2 big for the Shooter of the Year, determined by the 30m ranking and combined 10m men and women ranking. Prepared by our partner SKLOVAKIA, they will travel home with the best shooters of the saison.

With second place in the preliminary round (qualification) of the "10m Crossbow/Women" event, Jolanda Prinz (GER) secured the necessary ranking points to win the large crystal globe for “10m Crossbow” and be crowned “Shooter of the Year Crossbow 10m 2025”.

In the 30m competition, Joel Brüschweiler (SUI), having delivered an outstanding performance in the preliminary round (qualification), catapulting himself from second place in the overall rankings to the leading position and being celebrated as “Shooter of the Year Crossbow 30m 2025”.

High praise from the IAU

In his welcoming speech at the closing banquet, Jaroslav Liptak, Vice President of the "Internationale Armbrustschützen Union" (IAU), shared his enthusiasm for the organization and staging of the World Cup Finals in Winterthur and expressed his sincere thanks to the Seen-Gotzenwil Crossbow Club and to the OC President Pius Niederberger.

"The infrastructure was perfect! The preparatory work was carried out and delivered excellently, and thanks to a highly committed team of helpers who did an outstanding job in all areas, the event was organized to the highest standard, leaving nothing to be desired!" praised Liptak. He was also impressed by the shooting and scoring system: "I've never seen such fast scoring and announcement of results. It was an absolutely top performance!"

The Match Crossbow World Cup Final in Winterthur closes the competition saison for 2025. The calendar for 2026 promises interesting matches, especially on the European Championships in Chateauroux (FRA), where the Match Division and Field Division will compete together.

Check the organizer's website covering the competition: https://www.asv-seen-gotzenwil.ch/wcf-25
The resultbook is available for download here.

IAU Match Crossbow World Cup 2x30m, 10m and Grand Prix of France 2025

While the Field Crossbow discipline group celebrates the 2025 champions and recovers after a hard saison, the Match Crossbow scene meets in Strasbourg to collect world ranking points in two 30m and one 10m competitions.

Accompanying the World Cup starts, the organising team from the French Shooting Federation and the host Racing Club de Strasbourg Tir prepared an opportunity to compete in the accompanying Grand Prix de France, giving the shooters the possibility of up to 5 starts from Thursday till Saturday.

The range is well-prepared and the shooters as well. After the competition days, the qualifiers for the World Cup Finals in Winterthur(SUI) will be known.
Friday, 12 September

The second 30m competition in Strasbourg, being the 4th in a row for 2025, brought a lot of surprises. Everyone has expected Swiss and French shooters running for the medal places, but it came otherwise. Friday was a German day. Victory and the gold went to Louis Fürst(GER), tied with second-placed Thomas Debenne(FRA), both 572 points. Marius Klöckers(GER) took bronze for 566 points. Fourth place was also taken by a German shooter (Benjamin Hügler, 565), followed by Swiss team members.

World Cup 4: Gold for Louis Fürst

Day 2 results:

With the aggregate results list of shooters competing only for Grand Prix de France with the results of the World Cup 4, best eight were determined to finish the day in a final for the 30m Grand Prix winner. Surprisingly, no ladies made it to the final this time, but local competitors were also represented. The dominating nations were almost equally represented and so were also the medals - see the final results:

Thursday, 11 September

After a light training and equipment control procedures in the morning, the 30m Open Class shooters entered their first World Cup competition of this long  weekend. As we missed French shooters at the first issue of the 30m World Cup in Sezemice(CZE), the curiosity went towards the chances to break the Swiss dominance this year. Well, despite the tight competition at the top of the list (even with ties), only Thomas Debenne(FRA) made it to the medal range earning bronze, losing to second-placed Joël Brüschweiler(SUI) by tie with 571 points. Gold was secured by Joëlle Baumgartner(SUI) with 572.

Here are the results of Day 1:

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