Aida Roman walked onto the field with lucky charms on her arm and nails painted in gold. She had been shaking all day. But the top qualifier shot just as well as expected: after one nine came six 10s for a three-set win over Miki Nakamura.
“Since London, so many people in Mexico have been following me and asking when I’m going to win gold,” said Roman. They now have their answer.
Her 21-year-old Japanese opponent was at her first international. She was happy with silver, but cheekily said she wanted revenge – and the gold – next time!
Bronze went to Ukraine’s Anastasia Pavolva, already a team gold medallist at Nimes.
Australia’s Ryan Tyack dropped more points in the final than in any other previous match this week and lost his first set of the tournament. It didn’t matter: Tyack still won.
“With such a tough field you could never predict a winner,” Tyack said of his opponents. “I felt confident with my training and with how I’d shot the earlier matches. It would just come down to if I did well on the day, because every top archer can shoot a 30.”
“Even though I’m training outdoors because it’s summer now in Australia, I simply adjust the distance and do my best.”
Olympic medallists Viktor Ruban and Brady Ellison won silver and bronze, respectively.
