The Korean recurve archers may have "taken home everything" at the Indoor Archery World Cup Final in Las Vegas, but the Team USA compound women scored a podium sweep of their own.
As the competition came down to the final four in each category, the compound women's field was narrowed to Americans Erika Jones, Crystal Gauvin, Lexi Keller and Dahlia Crook. In the end, it was Jones facing off with Gauvin for gold, and Keller and Crook meeting for bronze.
Jones shot a perfect 30 in the first end of the gold medal final, going two points up, and never relented. Gauvin, according to World Archery, couldn't seem to get settled. Jones dropped four points in the 15 arrows - good enough for a 146, a five-point victory margin and a successful defense of her title.
"I've been struggling recently," Jones told World Archery. "I've been playing with some stuff on my bow and to come out here and shoot like this was great."
Jones won the Bangkok stage of the Indoor Archery World Cup - but was less than her usual self at the third leg in Nimes two weeks ago. "The way I've been shooting this past month, I just really wasn't expecting it," she explained.
The bronze medal match, held center stage in the Las Vegas shooting arena, went to a shoot-off between two talented archers who proved that in archery, age is quite irrelevant.
Keller and Crook were tied at 144 points after the regulation 15 arrows. Keller, age 19, drove home a 10 in the one arrow shoot-off to claim the medal. Throughout the day's matchplay, however, Crook, barely 15 years old, proved herself a contender to watch in the women's compound division.
On the men's side of the field, it was seemingly unstoppable Mike Schloesser (NED) who won the title, just weeks after he set a new indoor world record in Nimes, France. He was followed by Stephan Hansen of Denmark, who took silver, and bronze medalist PJ Deloche.
Read more about Las Vegas 2015. World Archery Communications contributed significantly to this article.
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