Preview: Olympic Champion Woojin unrivalled in Brady’s absence?

We won’t be getting a rematch of the incredible final of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games last August, that came down to a few millimetres, as the last major event of the season comes.

Unfortunately missing from the recurve men’s line-up of the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in Tlaxcala is reigning Olympic and World Cup runner-up Brady Ellison, who failed to qualify for the first time since 2010.

Back on top of the Sanlida World Ranking since end of September, the most successful male archer at World Cup Finals with five trophies in 13 participations stands only 37th in this year’s World Cup Ranking. His results on the circuit in 2024 were well below his standards, with a second-round defeat at the first stage in Shanghai, followed by two first-round exits in Yecheon and Antalya.

Had the final of the Games not been decided against him by just a few millimetres, Ellison would have received the wildcard due to the Olympic Champion.

But it was Kim Woojin who was crowned in Paris. And in Brady’s absence at the circuit’s end-of-season showdown, Woojin looks untouchable in Tlaxcala.

The Korean’s biggest rivals, however, might be his teammate Lee Woo Seok, who also podiumed twice at his maiden Olympics this summer with team gold and individual bronze, the defending World Cup Champion Marcus D’Almeida, as well as Thomas Chirault, freshly crowned Olympic team silver medallist at his home event.

Finals for the recurve men in Tlaxcala start at 10h00 (local) on Sunday 20 October. Live stream on archery+.

Line-up

The top two seeds are listed in bold and will be placed at opposite ends of the bracket. A match draw will determine the positions of the other archers.

• Kim Woojin, Korea (stage winner, Olympic wildcard)
• Lee Woo Seok, Korea (stage winner)
• Dhiraj Bommadevara, India
• Marcus D’Almeida, Brazil (defending champion)
• Thomas Chirault, France
• Mauro Nespoli, Italy
• Andres Temiño, Spain (stage winner)
• Matias Grande, Mexico (host country)

Bold prediction

Woojin can catch Brady atop the men with the most trophies.

Kim Woojin became the greatest Olympic archer and the most successful Korean Olympian of all time when he collected his fifth gold medal on 4 August.

In Paris, he beat his greatest rival Brady Ellison in a shoot-off measured in millimetres.

But the much-awaited revenge will have to sit back, as the US archer did not qualify for the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in 2024.

In Brady’s absence, Woojin looks unrivalled in Tlaxcala as he aims for a fifth trophy – he won the event in 2012, 2017, 2018 and 2022. Would he crown his season with another win, the Korean would catch the American at the top of the list of male athletes with the most titles since the circuit’s launch in 2006.

Sara Lopez holds the all-time record as she enters the compound women’s competition defending her eighth title from last year in Hermosillo.