Noziglia’s mission for missing medal begins, season sweep at stake

Cinzia Noziglia is fast becoming a legend in the world of barebow archery.

She’s won back-to-back titles at the World Games, the second coming in July of this year, and has five individual medals at world and European field and 3D championships, including becoming World Archery 3D Champion twice, both times in Terni and the latest coming only last month.

There’s one major medal missing – both in her career and this season.

Noziglia was runner-up in the barebow women’s competition at the World Archery Field Championships in 2014 and took bronze at the latest edition, held four years ago in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

But she’s never won the title.

Unlike many of the recurve and compound archers competing this week in Yankton, who have been to the NFAA Easton Yankton Archery Centre before to participate in target archery internationals, the venue is new for Cinzia.

“This is the first time I am here, in Yankton. It is amazing to be here,” she said. “It is very flat [at practice] but at the team captain's meeting, we heard it would be hard. The settings will probably change.”

The qualifying courses will be anything but flat. The uphill and downhill angles, one of field archery’s acute challenges, are rumoured to be significant.

“I just know it is near the lake,” said Cinzia.

Should Noziglia win this week in Yankton, she will cap a triple that has never before been achieved. The world field championships have never been held in the same year as the World Games or the World Archery 3D Championships, both of which were delayed a year due to the pandemic.

To take individual gold at all three would complete a phenomenal run of results.

“I do not have any expectations. I know that it is very hard. I will try to do my best,” she said.

“I do not think about particular goals, medals, places. We will see what happens.”

Included only on the programme of world field and 3D events, the bowstyle of barebow does not have as many competitions as recurve or compound. This season has been busy to an unprecedented scale for Noziglia and her peers, with the three majors and barebow’s addition to the European indoor championships, which took place at the very start of the year (and Cinzia won).

“Shooting was stopped by COVID-19. We hope that now we can return to normal competition and to normal life. Everything has changed during those four years. Not only in sport,” Cinzia said.

“I hope that this is one of the first steps to return to normal life.”

Noziglia has been far from normal so far in 2022. She’s been exceptional.

Qualification at the Yankton 202 World Archery Field Championships started on Tuesday – as has Cinzia’s mission to collect her missing medal.