The third stage of the World Cup returned to our continent in the Colombian city of Medellin from 13-18 June.
There were some amazing moments throughout the competition that marked the 10th anniversary of the first time Medellin hosted the world circuit.
Here are some of the highlights from the compound competition.
Qualifier
James Lutz and Khris Schaff of the United States tied for first place during the first half of the qualifier.
After completing the 72 qualifying arrows, Lutz was seeded second, followed by Mexico’s Sebastian Garcia in third and Schaff in fourth.
Sawyer Sullivan of the United States was seventh and Julio Barillas of Guatemala ninth.
The best seeded in compound woman was Colombia’s Sara Lopez.
She qualified in third position, followed by her team-mates Alejandra Usquiano in fourth and Daniela Atehortua in eighth position.
Two other archers who reached the top 10 of the qualifier were 15-year-old American Liko Arreola and Alexis Ruiz.
Teams
All three team and mixed team gold finals were between countries of the Americas.
Guatemala won the country’s first gold medal in a historic moment.
Julio Barillas, Jose Marcelo del Cid and Pedro Salazar faced the Mexican team of Sebastian Garcia, Juan del Rio and Miguel Becerra.
From the start they took the lead in the match and closed with a perfect end with a final score of 235-230.
Colombia faced India for the bronze medal in the compound men’s event.
Sebastian Arenas, Daniel Munoz and Jagdeep Singh Mejia failed to overcome the Indian team who took the victory 236-228.
The women’s team final was between Colombia and the United States.
This was the second clash on the circuit between these two countries for the gold.
This time Lopez, Usquiano and Atehortua started with the lead, which vanished in the last end.
Arreola, Ruiz and Olivia Dean managed to overcome the Colombians and take the gold for the United States with a two-point lead 233-231.
Mexico’s Andrea Becerra, Dafne Quintero and Ana Sofia Hernandez faced India for the bronze in a very close final.
The match was defined in tiebreaker arrows.
Both countries shot a total of 29 points but India had an arrow closer to the center that gave them the victory.
The mixed team gold final was between Colombia and Mexico.
Sara Lopez and Sebastian Arenas started with a one point lead against the Mexican team formed by Dafne Quintero and Sebastian Garcia.
The Mexicans managed to tie the score in the second end but both shot an 8 in the fourth and final end that closed the score in favor of the Colombian team 154-152.
Puerto Rico made it to the medal match in mixed teams for the first time in history.
Paola Ramirez and Jean Pizarro faced Estonia. Estonia took the bronze 155-151.
Individual
A total of six archers from the Americas made it to the medal finals.
Liko Arreola and Sara Lopez faced each other in a great final for the gold medal in the compound women’s event.
The Colombian started with a two-point lead that was gradually increasing.
Everything looked like it was going to end in Lopez’s favor but in the fourth end she shot a 7 that decreased the lead to a single point.
In the last end, Arreola shot a perfect score.
Lopez with a 9 and two 10’s failed to hold the lead and the match was defined in tiebreaker arrows.
The first arrow was a 9 by Lopez.
With enough room to take the win, Arreola shot a 10 and took her first victory on the international circuit at only 15 years old.
Alexis Ruiz faced Sarah Prieels of Belgium for the bronze medal.
Prieels took the victory with a one-point difference 145-144.
James Lutz and Nick Kappers faced each other in the semifinals.
Lutz achieved a perfect score of 150 points which earned him a spot in the gold final.
He faced Abhishek Verma of India for the gold.
Verma took the win with a two-point lead and Lutz took the silver medal.
Kappers and Luccas Abreu of Brazil competed for bronze.
The last time a Brazilian disputed any compound medal was in 2008 with Roberval dos Santos.
Kappers took the victory 148-143.
The next stage of the World Cup will be in Paris from August 15 to 20.
It will act as the test event for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.