NIMES,
France - In case you weren't watching it live, Team USA delivered a knockout
performance in this weekend's finals at the World Archery Indoor Championships.
Following a flurry of medals from a strong American junior team, the seniors
took to the stage, and did not disappoint.
Perhaps
one of the most emotional performances of the day was a bronze medal victory
for Olympic medalist Brady Ellison (Payson, Ariz.), who faced longtime rival
Taylor Worth of Australia.
"I
wanted to win, and it didn't matter who it was against," Ellison said following
the 6-2 win. Ellison commented on social media: "Friends, family and everyone
on the team here that watched: thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am
ending the season with a bronze medal from worlds."
Compound
standout Christie Colin (York, Pa.) was the first American to compete today,
and faced Olympian-turned-compounder Sophie Dodemont of France, in the gold medal match. The two
archers were evenly matched, and Colin led at the beginning, but Dodemont edged past her, giving Colin the silver medal.
Also chasing
gold was American Reo Wilde, who met Italy's Sergio Pagni in the compound men's
final. This was a very tight contest, and the match was tied at 4-all when
Pagni shot the final ten that gave Wilde the silver medal.
Colin
and Wilde each return to the U.S. with two World Championships medals; Colin
also earned a team silver with Erika Jones (Grand Island, Neb.) and Crystal
Gauvin (Dayville, Conn.) after a very close match with Mexico.
Wilde and teammates Braden Gellenthien (Hudson, Mass.) and Jesse Broadwater (Jennerstown, Pa.) earned the gold medal and world championship title yesterday after defeating a tough squad from Denmark.
Broadwater also competed individually today, in a hairsplitting bronze medal match with Denmark's teenage superstar Stephan Hansen. The match eventually stood at a 5-5 tie, which went to a single arrow shoot-off to determine the winner. Hansen's arrow was closer to the center, giving him the bronze.
"[I'm] not pleased at all with how I shot in the final matches�I got work to do," Broadwater commented on social media. "Congrats to Stephan Hansen for bronze�such a fine young man!"
Team USA's juniors also rocked out at Nimes this week, earning one world title, team silver and three individual medals. For photos, final results and more, visit World Archery's website.
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