PHOENIX, Ariz. – Stage 3 of the Olympic Trials Qualification Event came to a close on Wednesday, leaving just eight archers in both the men’s and women’s division to contest the remaining three stages.
Brady Ellison and Casey Kaufhold continue to lead the way after three stages. Ellison is followed by Jackson Mirich, Jack Williams and Trenton Cowles. Cowles is one of three Texas A&M archers through to the last 16, along with Alex Gilliam (5th) and – in the women’s division – Riley Marx (5th). Kaufhold is ahead of Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez, Catalina GNoriega and Emma Kim.
As temperatures rose in Arizona, so too did the tension. Double Olympic gold medalist from 1996, Justin Huish, narrowly missed out on reaching the last eight, while Cham Chung put in a tremendous effort to climb into the eighth position in the women’s division.
“I honestly think that it’s amazing that I went this far,” Chung admitted. “I didn’t expect it but I’m so glad I got an opportunity to compete with these world-class archers that I’ve seen through YouTube on World Archery and it’s a dream.”
Stage 4 will take place during Arizona Cup, which gets underway at the Ben Avery Archery Range on Thursday. Stages 5 and 6 are during and after Gator Cup in Newberry, Fla. next month.
Mirich returns to Arizona Cup as defending champion and will head into that event with a spring in his step after a strong last two days.
He said, “Coming into the Trials I honestly thought that I was going to be packing my bags at the end of this due to a rough indoor season but I’m happy that I was able to push forward and get through it.”
Each country can qualify either one or three places each for the Olympic Games in the men’s and women’s recurve division. For Paris 2024, there are 64 men’s and 64 women’s spots available. The USA has one quota slot in the men’s division and one in the women’s division. Additional spots will be awarded at the Pan Am Championships, which takes place in Medellin, Colombia next week. The Final Qualification Tournament will be held with World Cup 3 in June.
Remaining quota slots will be allocated to the host nation and to other countries based on team world rankings in June 2024. (Read the 2024 Olympic Games Qualification System).
Results can be found on the Between Ends website, while photos are placed HERE.
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MEN |
WOMEN |
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Brady Ellison |
Casey Kaufhold |
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Jackson Mirich |
Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez |
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Jack Williams |
Catalina GNoriega |
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Trenton Cowles |
Emma Kim |
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Matthew Requa |
Riley Marx |
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Alex Gilliam |
Alexandria Zuleta-Visser |
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Gabe Anderson |
Jordan Marie Meiners |
|
Joonsuh Oh |
Cham Chung |
Stage #4 Olympic Trials Qualification Event: 2024 USAT Event #1 - AZ Cup (April 4)
Stage #5 Olympic Trials Qualification Event: 2024 USAT Event #2 - Gator Cup (May 11)
Stage #6 Olympic Trials Event: stand-alone event following 2024 USAT Event #2 - Gator Cup (May 13-14)
