Mexico topped the medal table at the end of the first stage of the Archery World Cup in Central Florida with a total of six medals, followed by the United States with four.
The competition took place from 8 to 13 April with 34 countries participating. Ten of them were from the Americas, including Mexico, USA, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
Qualifier
In the compound category, Mexico placed first in all five events.
Andrea Maya Becerra and Sebastian Garcia led the individual qualifier with 701 and 709 points, respectively.
In the recurve women’s event, USA’s Casey Kaufhold was the continent’s top qualifier with 649 points, placing sixth.
In recurve men, the top qualifier was Brazil’s Marcus D’Almeida, in 14th place with 659 points.
Teams
The first team medal for the continent was the bronze medal won by USA’s Olivia Dean, Alexis Ruiz and Abigail Winterton in compound women, beating China Taipei 224-221.
Mexico took gold in this category with Andrea Becerra, Mariana Bernal and Dafne Quintero. The Mexicans faced Italy in the final and won comfortably 233-225.
In compound men, the Americans James Lutz, Kris Schaff and Sawyer Sullivan were crowned champions after beating Italy by a difference of nine points, 227-218.
In recurve women’s, the US team – made up of Catalina Gnoriega, Casey Kaufhold and Jennifer Mucino – disputed the final for the gold against China. The Americans lost 5-3 to take the silver medal.
Mixed teams
There was a remarkable moment on the competition field after it was announced that the compound mixed team event will be part of the Olympic programme.
Guatemala and Mexico reached the quarter-finals, finishing in positions eight and six, respectively.
In recurve mixed teams, the Mexican team of Matias Grande and Alejandra Valencia took the gold by beating Spain 5-3.
Individual finals
Andrea Becerra claimed her first World Cup victory in the compound women’s category.
USA’s Olivia Dean won the silver medal, while Mexico’s Mariana Bernal took bronze.
In the compound men’s event, Sebastian Garcia added a silver medal for Mexico.
In recurve women’s competition, Alejandra Valencia and Casey Kaufhold met in the semi-finals. Valencia won the duel 7-3.
In the final for the gold medal, the Mexican met Britain’s Penny Healey, who took the victory against the Mexican 6-0.
Kaufhold also lost her bronze medal match 6-0, finishing in fourth place.
In recurve men, the continent’s best performance came from USA’s Brady Ellison, who finished in sixth place.
The second stage of the World Cup will take place in Shanghai from 6-11 May.
Medal table
