The Parapan American and Pan American Championships were held in Santiago , Chile from November 21 to 27. A total of 331 athletes from 27 countries participated in this great event.
There was participation in 7 categories of para-archery.
VI
In the visually impaired category Gustavo Mendes Araujo (Brazil) took the gold. He won his match 6-0 against Misael Ruiz (Mexico). The third position went to Luis Antonio Gutierrez Silva of Chile who defeated his compatriot Alejandro Arellano Corral 6-2.
W1
In the women’s W1 category, Lisa Coryell of the United States won the Pan American title for the second consecutive time. She faced Albina Yamila Torres and won the match 121-74. In third place was Mariela Lopez Carrasco of Chile.
In the men’s division, Jason Tabansky (United States) defeated Helcio Perilo (Brazil) 124-123 by one point in a very exciting match. The third place went to Eugenio Santana Franco also from Brazil who defeated Jaime Solis from Mexico 126-114.
Compound open
Jane Karla Gogel once again claimed the Pan American title by defeating former champion and Paralympic medalist Mariana Zuñiga of Chile. Gogel won the match with a final score of 145-134. Third place went to Wendy Gardner (United States) who defeated teammate Erev King 138-135.
Douglas Godfrey (United States) defeated Diogo de Souza (Brazil) in the compound men open category 139-135. David Correa who ranked first, won the bronze medal 140-133 against Robert Cox (Canada).
Recurve open
The two top ranked women competed in the gold medal final. It was a very close match that started in favor of the top ranked Maria Monica Daza Guzman of Colombia. Halfway through the match Cathia Valdez (Mexico) took the lead but by the end of the fifth set both archers were tied at 5 set points. The first to shoot the tiebreaker arrow was Daza with a 7. Valdez shot a 5 and the victory went to Daza Guzman.
The top-ranked recurve men also faced each other for the gold. Kevin Mather, Tokyo 2020 Paralympic gold medalist, defeated Mexico’s Samuel Molina 6-4 in the fourth set. “It feels really incredible,” said Mather. “This has been an insanely long season for the para archers with the world championships in February and now we’re here in November. It’s been a remarkable year and I’m happy to take home the win.”
Parapan American Champions
- Visually Impaired – Gustavo Mendes Araujo (Brazil)
- Women W1– Lisa Coryell (United States)
- Men W1– Jason Tabansky (United States)
- Compound Women Open– Jane Karla Gogel (Brazil)
- Compound Men Open – Douglas Godfrey (United States)
- Recurve Women Open – María Mónica Daza Guzmán (Colombia)
- Recurve Men Open – Kevin Mather (United States)