Mete Gazoz wins Archery World Cup gold in Madrid

MADRID

Turkish archer Mete Gazoz claimed the gold medal at the fourth stage of the Archery World Cup in Madrid, Spain, while fellow Turkish archer Elif Berra Gökkır made history by securing Türkiye’s first-ever individual women’s recurve medal in a World Cup stage.

Olympic champion Gazoz defeated Italy’s Mauro Nespoli in the men’s recurve final with a commanding 6-0 victory. The Turkish archer won the three sets 29-27, 30-25 and 26-25 to finish atop the podium and conclude the Madrid leg as champion.

In the women’s recurve final, Gökkır faced Czech archer Marie Horackova and finished with the silver medal after a 6-0 defeat.

Despite falling short of gold, the result marked a milestone for Turkish archery. Gökkır’s silver is Türkiye’s first individual medal in the women’s recurve category in the 20-year history of the Archery World Cup stages.

The achievement also secured the young archer a place at the Archery World Cup Final in Mexico later this season. The Turkish Archery Federation said Gökkır became the first Turkish woman to qualify for the season-ending event on merit by finishing among the world’s top eight archers through her performances across the World Cup stages in Mexico, Shanghai, Antalya and Madrid.

Previously, Turkish women had only appeared in the World Cup Finals as host-nation representatives when Türkiye staged the event in 2010 and 2018.

The World Cup Final brings together the season’s eight highest-ranked archers, where Gökkır will represent Türkiye after her breakthrough campaign.