El Salvador won two gold medals in both the men’s and women’s compound team finals at the XXV Central American and Caribbean Games 2026 in Santo Domingo.
In both finals, El Salvador faced Mexico, which was ranked higher.
The Salvadoran women—Camila Alvarenga, Paola Corado, and Sofía Paiz—showed great composure from the start of the match against the Mexicans—Andrea Becerra, Dafne Quintero, and Ana Sofía Hernández—who managed to build a 5-point lead in the first end.
The Mexicans gradually chipped away at the Salvadorans’ lead, but it wasn’t enough to tie the match.
El Salvador won by a single point, with a final score of 223 to 222.
Corado shared a photo on social media alongside El Salvador’s current coach, Linda Ochoa-Anderson: “Eight years ago at the Central American and Caribbean Games, [I was] with an archer I admired; today she is my coach and helped us win our first gold medal at the Games.”
This was a historic medal for El Salvador, as it was the nation’s first medal in the compound women’s category in the history of the Games—and its first gold in Santo Domingo.
The second gold medal came a few minutes later in the men’s final.
The Salvadoran team of Roberto Hernández, Douglas Nolasco, and Miguel Ángel Veliz defeated the Mexican trio of Sebastián García, Rodrigo González, and Lot Máximo Méndez.
The match started off close, with both teams tying in the first two ends.
But in the third end, El Salvador shot a perfect score and built a 5-point lead.
In the fourth and final end, that lead was reduced to 4 points, which was more than enough to secure the victory.
‘We’ve just come off a Pan American team competition where I shot terribly, and I apologized to my teammates for my results,’ Hernández told INDES El Salvador.
“My wife, who is at home supporting me and cheering me on, and my parents, who came here, were instrumental—along with the coaches—in helping me perform at 100% here. And what better gift could there be than to dedicate this gold medal to my baby and my wife, who is at home?”
The last time El Salvador won a gold medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games was in Cartagena in 2006.
The bronze medals went to Colombia in the compound women’s event and to Guatemala in the compound men’s final.
The Colombian team—Sara López, Mariana Rodríguez, and Alejandra Usquiano—defeated the Guatemalan team, consisting of Danica Barrera, Claudia de la Cruz, and Mariana Saravia, 231 to 227.
The Guatemalan team of Julio Barillas, José Marcelo del Cid, and Pedro Salazar defeated the Colombian team by a single point, 234 to 233.
The Colombian team consisted of Sebastián Arenas, Pablo Gómez, and Jagdeep Singh.