Preview: Americas event run continues at Medellin world ranking tournament
The Pan American Championships, normally held every two years, have historically included a range of age groups and para categories in a huge competition, a complex schedule and a horde of athletes, with the event distributing many, many continental titles.
That’s set to change going forward, with more events added to the continental calendar. The split was brought forward to this year’s championships in Monterrey to help comply with pandemic restrictions. The youth and master competitions were removed from the Pan American Championships in March and will instead be awarded this week in Medellin. There are also quota places for the inaugural Youth Pan American Games up for grabs in Colombia – and world-ranking points in the senior categories.
Among the names taking to the line are rising stars Valentina Vazquez and Nicholas D’Amour, veterans Sara Lopez and Roberto Hernandez – both looking to rebound from less-than-exceptional starts to the 2021 Hyundai Archery World Cup a week ago – and Ecuador’s Adriana Espinoza.
Her focus is on Tuesday, qualification, as she searches for the score that will see her ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games become a reality.
It’s been a busy start to the international season in the Americas. The tournament calendar started with the Pan American Championships in Mexico in late March, was followed by the World Cup stage in Guatemala in April and is capped with this competition in Colombia before the focus moves to Europe later this month.
Key information
What’s happening? A world ranking event on 4-9 May in Medellin, Colombia.
What’s at stake? World ranking points, Pan American Champion titles in the youth and master age groups, and quota places to the Cali 2021 Junior Pan American Games.
What’s the story? It’s a frantic week of important competition. The top names are spread across the age groups in Medellin, as archers compete not only for world ranking points, but also for continental titles in the under-18 and under-21 categories.
Schedule
- Tuesday 4 May: Qualification
- Wednesday 5 May: Mixed team finals
- Thursday 6 May: Youth finals
- Friday 7 May: Team finals
- Saturday 8 May: Pan American Junior Games
- Sunday 9 May: Finals
How to watch
World Archery will stream the individual finals live on its YouTube channel at 17h30 CET on Sunday 9 May. Live scores will be available on the World Archery website and there will be coverage on World Archery’s digital platforms throughout the competition.
Double crown?
Young Mexican archer Valentina Vazquez won the senior Pan American Champion title on home soil in Monterrey in March.
Had the youth and masters events been combined in that tournament as was initially planned – though altered due to restrictions caused by the pandemic – she likely wouldn’t have had a chance at the under-21 continental crown. She’d have remained with the Mexican top team in the senior event.
But in Medellin, she’s one of 37 archers competing in the recurve junior women’s event competition – with a shot at the continental crown in a second age group. And she’s one of more than 100 young athletes attending who will look to qualify places to the Junior Pan American Games, which are scheduled to take place in another Colombian city – Cali – later this summer.
Who’s competing?
These are the top-ranked archers shooting in Medellin:
- Recurve men: Daniel Felipe Pineda, Colombia (world rank: 65)
- Recurve women: Ana Maria Rendon, Colombia (world rank: 77)
- Compound men: Daniel Munoz, Colombia (world rank: 8)
- Compound women: Sara Lopez, Colombia (world rank: 2)
A total of 185 archers from the following 18 countries are registered for this tournament: Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, the USA, the US Virgin Islands and Venezuela.
Competition at the world ranking event in Medellin starts with qualification on Tuesday.
