PARIS, France – One USA archer announced his arrival on the Paralympic scene with a gold medal on Sunday while another signaled his departure with gold, as Jason Tabansky and Matt Stutzman produced world class performances to become champions in Paris.
The archery on display inside Invalides was breathtaking. First Tabansky took gold in the W1 men open division, defeating the world number one in the gold medal match. He had previously knocked out the world number two and denied the defending champion a fifth straight medal at his fifth Paralympic Games en route to an emotional victory.
The momentum built up by Tabansky’s success seemed to rub off on KJ Polish and Stutzman as they continued in the compound men open competition. Polish was agonizingly unfortunate to be denied a semifinal matchup with Stutzman, firing three unblemished ends to finish his encounter with the champion from the Tokyo Games, He Zihao (CHN), yet lost 147-146. His total of 146 would have been good enough for victory in two of the other three quarterfinals.
Polish finished fifth in what is his third Games. He began the day with a 144-142 win over Jonathan Milne (AUS) before coming up against the gold medalist from three years ago.
Polish said, “I gave it everything I had in that match and everyone got to see that but this ain't over yet. The first Games I did alright. The second Games I fell at the 1/16 stage. This time I finish fifth. It's stepping stones leading to LA in four years time and I'll be ready."
Showman Stutzman, meanwhile, wowed the crowd with a masterclass on his way to the top of the podium, defying the odds in adding gold to the silver he won in London 12 years ago. Stutzman has said this will be his fourth and final Paralympic Games and he leaves a champion, incidentally just days after suggesting he was retiring because ‘I’m just not as good as I used to be’.
Try telling that to the field he dismantled, including the man who beat him in London in 2012, Jere Forsberg. Forsberg was the first match up for Stutzman on Sunday morning and the 1/8 round contest required a shootoff to determine the outcome. Forsberg, behind his mirrored sunglasses, face unmoved, put his arrow in the 10. Stutzman, with minimal room for error, delivered his about as dead center as you could get.
Cheered on by family and friends and with the wind in his sails, Stutzman put paid to world number four Nathan MacQueen (GBR) 143-142 in the quarterfinals before requiring a second one arrow shootoff to shake off He Zihao and reach a gold medal meeting with another Chinese archer, Ai Xinliang. It took a new Paralympic record of 149 – beating the previous best of 148 set in Tokyo by He Zihao – for Stutzman to go out as Paralympic champion!
“Here's what was going through my mind," Stutzman said. "One arrow at a time and it was my plan to just enjoy the moment.
"I can't explain it. Having the whole crowd behind me made me feel at home. Once I started shooting that match against MacQueen, my jitters just went away and all of a sudden I found my stroke.
"I was so confident, I bought just one bow, no backup and if you look at the strings on that bow, they've been on there since Tokyo and they're pretty messed up.
"But this is why I've got to retire. You can't top this. You'll never top this. When I was stood on the podium I couldn't believe I was there."
Jason Tabansky landed the first archery medal of the Paralympic Games for the United States with a performance for the ages, as he defeated the world number one Han Guifei (CHN) to the gold medal on Sunday afternoon.
Tabansky, who only discovered at the end of June that he would be competing in France after Chris Davies of Australia was forced to withdraw through injury, certainly made the most of his opportunity.
He began at the 1/8 stage with a 137-122 win over world number two Eugenio Santana Franco (BRA), only to then face David Drahonínský of Czech Republic. These are Drahonínský’s fifth Paralympic Games and he had never failed to reach the final, winning gold in Beijing (2008) and Tokyo (2020), and silver in London (2012) and Rio (2016).
Tabansky stepped up another gear, winning 139-131, setting a semifinal against the Italian archer Paolo Tonon. As he had done in previous rounds, Tabansky started steadily and grew into the match, with his opponent fading. The 41-year-old from Texas triumphed 136-115, setting up a gold medal showdown with Han, who had beaten the top ranked Zhang Tianxin in the semifinals.
Han led 81-79 after three ends, at which point Tabansky seemed to find the next level, enjoying a two-point swing to head into the final end leading 107-106. That one point advantage became a two point difference after the first arrow from each archer. Tabansky then opened the door a touch with an uncharacteristic seven, and the lead was cut to one, before confirming the win and the gold with a 10!
The W1 men’s Paralympic champion said, “The seven was like, ‘oh no, I popped that up’. Now we kept it interesting; we’re giving these people a show.
“I looked at Jonathan (Clemins) and let him know it was my fault and that I didn’t need to fix my sight. Honestly, I then remember loading my arrow, hooking my release, drawing back and then screaming. I don’t remember the shot. All I could think of was put this pin in the gold and punch this thing.
“Landing that 10 and feeling the rush and that it’s finally over, I did it … you have to experience it. It’s hard to explain but I was just thankful for everybody that’s had a piece of this journey with me, from family and friends to technical coaches, manufacturers, everybody.
“I’m really, really happy to be able to represent in the right way.”
In the course of becoming Paralympic champion, Tabansky defeated the man referred to by commentators as Mr. W1, denying Drahoninsky a medal at the Paralympic Games for the first time. Drahoninsky is also the world (144 & 680) and Paralympic (142) record holder.
But Tabansky was only in Paris after Davies was forced to withdraw and that was not lost on the American.
“I want to say that this one’s also for Chris Davies,” Tabansky commented. “He got hurt and he wasn’t able to be here. I always told myself that if he sacrificed his spot, then I’m going to make it count, it’s going to be for something.
“This is not just I’ve got a slot and I’m going to take a picture and say that I’ve been there. I was here to perform and thankful to God that I was able to make it all the way to the end and have a gold medal around my neck.”
And the first person Tabansky was seeking out after the formalities had been concluded was his wife, Courtney, who was cheering him on from the stands throughout.
“I think the whole stadium heard Courtney,” he said with a broad smile. “She’s always been the biggest, most supportive cheerleader spouse. I couldn’t ask for anyone better in my corner.”
Tabansky returns to the field on Monday when he joins forces with Tracy Otto in the W1 mixed team competition. The US pairing face Italy in the quarterfinals.
Upcoming Schedule
* times in ET and subject to change
September 2
3:20am – W1 mixed team quarterfinals: USA vs. Italy
September 4
3:00am – Recurve men open 1/16 round: ERIC BENNETT vs. Suresh Selvathamby (MAS)
4:59am – Recurve men open 1/16 round: JORDAN WHITE vs. Lukasz Ciszek (POL)
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