Best of Paris: Five outstanding Olympic performances of 2024

Once again, it was Korea who ruled the roost, taking every gold medal available.

The women’s team, however – the ‘crown jewels’ of the decades-long Korean effort at the Olympics – were not so dominant as previous, but they managed to get the job done and make it ten-out-of-ten.

At Paris 2024, it would really be the Korean men who headlined the show, with Kim Woojin becoming the most decorated archer of all time with five gold medals and the men’s team dominating right from the off.

But Korea winning Olympic archery gold is not headline news. The performances that really surprised and delighted us were elsewhere on the field. 

1. Brady

Watching Brady Ellison performances in the mixed team finals on Friday where he took a bronze medal with Casey Kaufhold made it abundantly clear that he had a strong chance at the men’s draw. Suddenly, a kind of vintage Brady was back with an extremely calm, businesslike focus on getting the job done.

Before the competition, almost no-one was giving him a shot. It was all the more remarkable after an outdoor season that could be described as indifferent at best and a major change in draw length added just three weeks ago. As Brady put it: “If you would have said that I’d be standing on a podium three weeks ago, I would have told you you’re high.”

Somehow it all came together, and you sense that no-one else on the field would have been capable of doing that. It led to – perhaps – the greatest men’s final yet seen at an Olympics Games. It did not seem fair to decide that heavyweight championship on the few millimetres seen between him and Woojin’s shoot-off arrows. But that’s the way it had to be.

Brady also became the most decorated US Olympic archer of all time by medal count, an extraordinary achievement in itself, and one made by a much more mature athlete and man. It was a joy to watch him. 

2. France

The French men’s team’s Olympic silver medal – the first ever for a French team in the modern era – on the Sunday was one of the finest displays of shooting by a European team on an Olympic stage. They were the only team to really go toe-to-toe with the Korean men, and their gold medal match ends of 57, 58, and 56 would likely have beaten anyone else except the men in white.

Of course, the French recurve revival was assisted by a Korean head coach, but even he could not have anticipated the mesmerising performance of the 17-year-old Baptiste Addis – the youngest male athlete of the French delegation in Paris – who opened the team’s ends with the raw confidence of youth.

So much was expected of France – to the point where the pressure, for Lisa Barbelin, thrust to the forefront of La Republique’s Olympic publicity machine, had become overwhelming. With help from a psychologist in the Olympic Village, she regained her confidence, and carried the full weight of her nation on individual finals day, where – with just a little luck – she performed fully under pressure to take the bronze.

Many observers noticed the difference on the women’s individual podium between the controlled emotions of the Korean athletes and the tearful outpouring of emotion and celebration in Barbelin. (It’s perhaps just that the Koreans like to celebrate a little differently).

It was something that spoke of the difficulty of both archery and expectation. But it shouldn’t take away from the fact that the very best of France was genuinely brilliant.

3. Mexico’s women’s team bronze

Few matches were as enjoyable to watch as Mexico’s win over Germany in the quarterfinal of the women’s team competition, as the team of Alejandra Valencia, Angela Ruiz, and Ana Vazquez powered away after a slow start, driven by rock-solid opening and finishing from Valencia and Vazquez respectively. 

The full team matches at Paris 2024 were definitely some of the high points of the meet, and the way Mexico improved to beat the Netherlands for the bronze made some observers wonder if they could have taken on Korea; if only they’d been on the right side of the bracket.

It was also an expression of a classic Olympic team narrative; that of an experienced Olympic hand (Valencia) paired with younger talent (Ruiz and Vasquez). The same dynamic was clearly apparent on the men’s team podium – most especially Türkiye.

It was part of a good week for Mexico which saw Matias Grande make the last 16 and Alejandra Valencia make the last eight, with Valencia the only non-Korean athlete to push eventual gold medallist Lim Sihyeon hard, losing 6-4. Grande’s positive and mature attitude at the Games shined brightly and suggested a glittering future.

After the team medal, Valencia said: “I know that we can go further.” – although the 29-year-old would not be drawn on whether she personally would try for a fifth Olympics. On the evidence, we can absolutely believe it.

4. Megan Havers

The press zone of the archery field hears a lot of tales of woe; what could have been, what they should have done, and what a struggle they have gone through just to get here.

It was a genuine joy to come across Great Britain’s Megan Havers, aged just 16, and the youngest archer on the field, who made the last 16 in her first Olympics and in her first year of international competition, where she had finished sixth at the 2024 European Archery Championships in only her second ever international tournament.

None of the British team had impressed in qualification, and both men’s and women’s teams had gone out in the first round on Sunday and Monday. It’s probably fair to say expectations weren’t high.

Seeded 49th of 64, Havers went past Elia Canales and the host nation’s Amélie Cordeau – the latter in what was widely acknowledged as the best shoot-off arrow of the Games. In an arena packed with French fans, she drilled an almost perfect 10. Conor Hall and Alex Wise also won a match and Tom Hall won two, saving a good deal of British face.

“I have so many emotions through me right now,” ‘Megs’ Havers said afterwards. “I want to cry. I want to yell, I want to hug people.” It was a bubble of enthusiasm that carried her into a last-16 meeting with Lim Sihyeon – where she managed to grab a point off the number one seed and eventual champion.

Havers was also an embodiment of something notable; the increasing youthfulness of the field. Seventy-two of the 128 athletes in Paris were under 25 and over half were born in the 2000s.

5. The crowd

Every archer coming off the field remarked on how exciting it was to shoot in what was, without doubt, the noisiest and most energised arena yet assembled for the sport. As well as massive support for the host nation, huge groups of fans from Korea, Mexico and Türkiye made their presence felt at the right points.

It was a look at what archery could be as a mass spectator sport, and the archers who played off that enjoyed it more than most. The sheer energy of the crowd during Lisa Barbelin’s wins at her two elimination matches on 30 July was amazing to watch – even on TV.

The Paris arena was an exceptional theatre for archery in the very heart of the city, and one that Los Angeles will have to go some way towards bettering. But the people – the fans – made it an event.