Lars Andersen
Danish · Viral archery media — speed and trick shooting, historical techniques · b. 1964-11-08
Lars Andersen is a Danish painter who taught himself to shoot arrows faster than anyone thought sensible, then put it on YouTube. His 2015 video "A new level of archery" pulled in 23 million views in a week and restarted a long-running argument about how historical archers actually shot. Historians dispute plenty of his claims; the Guinness World Record — seven consecutive arrows through a 10 mm keyhole — is harder to argue with.
Status
Active — still posting archery challenges; offers training, lectures, and film/stunt consulting via his official site (current as of June 2026)
Equipment
Traditional recurve bows shot without sights or stabilizers; holds multiple arrows in the draw hand for fast shooting. Used unfletched arrows for the keyhole world-record attempt (fletching would catch in the 10 mm hole).
Official profiles: Lars Andersen (archer) — Wikipedia · Official website — larsandersen23.com · Guinness World Records — Most consecutive arrows shot through a keyhole · Lars Andersen: A new level of archery (YouTube)
Major achievements
- Guinness World Record: most consecutive arrows shot through a keyhole — 7 arrows through a hole no wider than 10 mm, from roughly 3 m, with a traditional recurve (no sights or stabilizers), set in Lyngby, Denmark on 1 June 2022
- "Lars Andersen: A new level of archery" (January 2015) became one of the most-watched archery videos ever made — over 23 million views in its first week, and tens of millions since (60M+ on YouTube per Wikipedia)
- YouTube channel larsandersen23: ~638K subscribers and ~133 million total channel views as of mid-2026 (vidIQ stats, June 2026)
- Won a MrBeast talent-challenge competition with a $10,000 prize, per his own announcement on TikTok and his official site
- Claims speed-shooting feats of 10 arrows in 4.9 seconds and 3 arrows in 0.6 seconds — widely reported, though self-claimed rather than independently adjudicated
- Demonstrated shooting arrows that curve in mid-flight in a 2017 video