MEDELLIN, Colombia – Fifteen-year-old Liko Arreola made it a World Cup debut to remember on Saturday as the teenage talent claimed double gold at Stage 3 in Colombia.
First, she was a member of the compound women’s team which defeated the host nation 233-231, alongside Olivia Dean – who, at 16, is also making her World Cup debut – and Alexis Ruiz.
Arreola then denied Colombia a second time as she held her nerve to beat Sara Lopez in the compound women’s gold medal match. The quietly spoken Arreola let her archery do the talking as she won a tense contest to become the youngest individual medalist at a World Cup aged just 15 years and 330 days.
At no stage did Arreola lead, trailing by as many as three points after the first three ends, and yet – seemingly unfazed – she stuck to the process only to force a one-arrow shoot-off, which she won with a 10!
Arreola had earlier won her semifinal encounter with Sarah Prieels (BEL) 146-144. Prieels then took bronze after a 145-144 win over a battling Ruiz, who had lost her semifinal 147-146 to Lopez.
The men took silver and bronze in the compound division, with medals for James Lutz and Nick Kappers. Lutz overcame his USA teammate Kappers in the semifinals, firing a perfect score in winning 150-146. He was then beaten in the gold medal match by India’s Abhishek Verma 148-146.
Kappers added to the USA’s medal tally on a super Saturday as he defeated Luccas Abreu of Brazil, 148-143, to take bronze. Individual gold, silver and bronze, plus a team gold, it was a very good day for the USA!
Sunday brings more opportunities for USA medals as the recurve division brings down the curtain in Colombia.
Brady Ellison and Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez come together to take on Korea in the recurve mixed team gold medal match.
That is followed by the individual semifinals. Ellison, the ninth seed, will tackle Italy’s Mauro Nespoli, with Mucino-Fernandez facing women’s top seed Sihyeon Lim of Korea.
There are four World Cup stages, before the final in Mexico in September. As well as Turkey, China and Colombia, there is also a stage in France.
Stage 4: Paris, France – August 15-20
Final: Hermosillo, Mexico – September 9-10
