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Medellin 2015: What you need to know

8 September 2015

Medellin (COL)

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The 2015 Archery World Cup started in May in Shanghai, China, visited the Turkish seaside resort of Antalya in June and then stopped in Wroclaw, Poland in August. The Colombian city of Medellin, the city of eternal spring, hosts the fourth and final stage of the tour, where the roster for the Mexico City 2015 Archery World Cup Final is decided.

It’s the critical stop on archery’s premier international circuit. Here’s what you need to know before Medellin 2015 begins…

Five facts

1. There will be no repeat winner in Medellin in 2015, as none of the 2014 stage gold medallists – Peter Elzinga, Erika Jones, Lee Seungyun and Jung Dasomi – entered the event.

2. By the numbers: 210 athletes from 38 nations entered Medellin 2015…

3. …and seven of those national teams – Bolivia, Cuba, El Salvador, Georgia, Germany, Philippines and Slovakia – feature just one archer, the majority chasing vital Archery World Cup ranking points and in with a chance of qualifying for Mexico City 2015.

4. Medellin has held a stage of the Archery World Cup since 2013. It’s entering its third year as host – and will have one more edition in 2016, which will also act as the Americas continental qualifying tournament for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

5. The Korean team in Colombia is the alternate or “B” squad. (Yes, a B-Team that includes 70-metre world record holder Im Dong Hyun!)

The so-called international team for 2015 is spending the time practising in a Brazilian holding camp, ahead of the Aquece Rio International Archery Challenge, the test event for the next Olympic Games.

Four teams to watch

The Archery World Cup stage in Colombia is the tour’s lone stop in the Americas in 2015, besides the World Cup Final in Mexico City. Medellin 2015, like past editions of the tournament, has drawn entries from South and Central American teams not regularly seen at international competition.

Bolivia

Thirty-eight year-old Jose Luis Gamara received his first international cap for Bolivia at Medellin 2015. While most teams have had some time to train with their coaches, Bolivia’s only recurve man arrived at the competition alone to be greeted by former Colombian archer turned coach Diego Torres, who’ll help him throughout the week.

Costa Rica

One financier, one electronic engineer and a physics student make up the Costa Rican compound men’s squad. Representing the Central American nation for third time in a row in the city of eternal spring, the trio has a clear goal: Improve personal bests, in score and ranking.

In past legs, the team finished ninth – and each athlete 33rd, individually.

Peru

Junior athletes William O’Brien and Ayling Wong, joined in Medellin by Jorge Villon, fly the flag of Peru – a country in which archery is growing – in Colombia.

Venezuela

Despite only shooting internationally irregularly, Venezuela is one of the strongest archery nations in the Americas. At the World Archery Championships in Copenhagen in the summer of 2015, Venezuela’s compound women’s team won bronze and Elias Malave came fourth in the recurve men’s individual event, losing to Takaharu Furukawa in a shoot-off.

Three storylines

1. Colombia monopolised the compound women’s World Cup Champion title in 2013 and 2014. Sara Lopez had it in ’14 and Alejandra Usquiano the year before.

Lopez – who recently broke her own 70-metre ranking round world record – sat fourth in the rankings after three stages and is a good bet for Mexico City. Usquiano needs at least a top eight, if not top four, finish in Medellin.

2. Seven of the top 10 recurve men in the World Cup rankings hail from Korea or USA. Since there’s the two-athlete cap on each team for the Archery World Cup Final, those in 10th to 20th all have a real shot at qualifying. Who’s got what it takes?

3. Mexico’s women: Linda Ochoa was the first athlete qualified for Mexico City, with compound teammate Stephanie Sarai Salinas likely to join her. Their Mexican recurve counterparts aren’t so secure: Aida Roman had 15 points on the circuit after three stages, ranking her 13, with Alejandra Valencia two places lower.

As host of the final, Mexico gets one spot in each division - but neither Roman nor Valencia will want to leave that single automatic invitation to decide their fate.

Two bold predictions

Brazil will have its second Archery World Cup Final qualifier in as many years, but it won’t come via the recurve team. Marcelo Roriz Jr ranked in third for the season after Wroclaw, after collecting a point there for making the third round – and 12 points for a sixth place at stage two in Antalya.

Despite being very aware of the situation he’s in, Marcelo said he just came to Medellin to enjoy the tournament. The chances of a strong result if he does just that? High.

Host country athlete and fourth-ranked on the circuit arriving in the fourth stage, Ana Maria Rendon will make her first Archery World Cup Final after a podium in Colombia. Rendon already medalled individually in the Americas in 2015 (silver at the Pan Am Games in Toronto) and with her team, in Toronto and stage one of the World Cup in Shanghai.

Medellin would be the perfect place for Ana Maria to pull out another top-three performance.