Mexican archer Sebastián García won the gold medal in the compound men’s category at the second stage of the Archery World Cup in Shanghai.
The competition took place from May 5 to 10 at the Yuanshen Sports Centre with more than 300 archers competing.
Brazil, Canada, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, and the USA were the American nations that competed in this second stage.
This is the Mexican’s first individual gold medal on the world circuit.
In the final, he faced world champion Nicolas Girard of France.
It was a close match, and it looked as though Girard would secure the victory if he could shoot a 10 on his final arrow.
Whether due to the wind or nerves, Girard shot a nine, and the match went to a shoot-off.
The Mexican shot first, hitting a 9 very close to the 10, which left the door open for the Frenchman.
But the wind continued, and an unexpected gust caused Girard to miss, shooting a 9 farther from the center and handing the victory to the Mexican.
In the compound women’s category, Mexico’s Andrea Becerra won the silver medal.
In the semifinals, she defeated her teammate Dafne Quintero.
In the gold medal match, Becerra faced Lisell Jaatma of Estonia, who won by a single point, 145–144.
The bronze medal match was between Alexis Ruiz of the USA and Quintero.
Ruiz qualified in first place and was shooting better than ever, but she still lost the semifinal to Jaatma in a shoot-off.
The American didn’t give up, and in the bronze medal match, she regained her usual shooting rhythm and won the match against the Mexican by a three-point margin, 148-145.
Ruiz also won two more medals in the team events.
She won the gold medal alongside James Lutz in the mixed team final and a silver in the compound women’s team event alongside Olivia Dean and Kaylee Gurney.
Lutz also won a silver in the men’s team category alongside Gaius Carter and Louis Price.
In all the team finals, the Americans faced off against the Turkish team.
Mexico’s compound women’s team won the bronze medal by defeating Korea.