Mexican archers Matías Grande and Alejandra Valencia won the individual and mixed team finals on the final day of archery competition at Santo Domingo 2026.
The weather throughout the week of competition was generally harsh for the archers, with heat index readings around 40°C.
“I feel like my score was low,” Grande told Claro Sports about his performance in the gold medal match against Colombia’s Jorge Enriquez.
“I won; but despite the wind, despite the weather, I feel like I was too focused on the medal—I wanted it so badly—and I feel like that took me a little bit out of my rhythm.”
The match between the two archers was closely contested, with Enriquez taking the first two points of the set.
However, in the end, Grande claimed victory in the fifth set, 6-4.
“I came here for a medal; I wanted to be the champion, and I became the champion,” Grande said.
The bronze medal went to Mexico’s Raúl Tadeo Rodríguez, who defeated Cuba’s Hugo Franco 10-9 in the tiebreaker arrows.
In the recurve women’s final, Mexicans Ana Paula Vázquez and Valencia faced off for the Central American and Caribbean title.
“You know competing against Ale is going to be a tough match; you have to be extra focused,” Vázquez told Claro Sports.
Vázquez was only able to take set points from Valencia in the third set, and in the fourth set, Alejandra claimed victory with a final score of 6-2.
“The good news is that, at the end of the day, whoever won, Mexico won, and that was the most important thing for us and the country,” Vázquez said.
This is Alejandra Valencia’s third Centro Caribe title; she won the last three editions in El Salvador in 2023 and Barranquilla in 2018.
The bronze medal went to Colombia’s Ana María Rendón, who defeated Mexico’s Ángela Ruíz 6 set points to 4.
In the mixed recurve final, Grande and Valencia defeated the Colombian team.
“It’s a medal for both of us, but [Alejandra] is someone who always looks out for others, who’s there to support us—she’s someone we never want to see leave,” said Grande.
The Mexicans’ opponents were Ana María Rendón and Santiago Arcila.
From the start, the Mexicans took the lead and needed only three sets to secure the victory, with a perfect score in the final set.
“When we’re out there [competing], we’re equals; just as he has that respect for me, I also have that respect for him,” said Valencia.
The bronze medal in the team event went to the Cuban pair of Larissa Pagan and Hugo Franco, who defeated the Panamanian team of Gisela Cowan Chang and Liborio Saavedra.
The archery competitions at the 25th Central American and Caribbean Games of Santo Domingo 2026 took place from July 24 to 29, with 116 athletes from 20 countries participating.