SALTILLO, Mexico – Alexis Ruiz took gold at the World Cup Final and in doing so became the first U.S. archer to win the compound women’s division since Jamie van Natta in Tokyo in 2012.
Ruiz was appearing at her fourth World Cup Final, and had never previously won a match. But that all changed on Saturday afternoon with wins over Lisell Jaatma (EST), Sara Lopez (COL) and Dafne Quintero (MEX).
In a weekend of firsts, Ruiz – who is still not fully healed following a car accident last month – ended Lopez’s hopes of a record-extending 10th World Cup Final title. The last time Lopez lost at a World Cup Final was in 2013, the year she made her international debut. She was edged in a one-arrow shootoff to her compatriot Alejandra Usquiano at the quarterfinal stage. Lopez has since dominated, winning on every occasion she has featured, in 2014 and 2015, and then seven in a row from 2017 (2020 was canceled).
There was initially confusion surrounding the quarterfinal match for Ruiz. Both her and Jaatma finished on 143 after their 15 arrows. Both archers shot nines in the shootoff and although Ruiz’s arrow was closer, the line judge mistakenly raised her arm to indicate a win for the Estonian.
An uncharacteristic miss from Lopez in the semifinal helped Ruiz to a comfortable 142-134 win, before a 145-144 victory over the local favorite and the gold medal.
“It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions,” Ruiz told archery+. “From thinking I’d lost my first match to all of a sudden I’m in the gold medal match, and that match was so close between me and Dafne. It literally came down to the last end, the last arrow. I can’t even describe the joy I’m feeling right now.”
Ruiz joins two-time winner van Natta (2008, 2012) as well as Erika Jones (2011) as U.S. archers to win gold in compound women at the Archery World Cup Final.
From winning her first match at the fourth time of asking, to being the first to defeat Lopez since her debut at the World Cup showcase 13 years ago, to winning her first World Cup Final title, with it all being made more impressive on discovering the physical struggle these past few weeks.
“I don't know how many people know, but I was in a car accident a month ago, so I'm not fully healed.” Ruiz admitted. “So, I knew I had that challenge going into today and then just all the mental stuff I had to go through.
“I think I realized a new capability of who I am and what I can handle.”
Brady Ellison was unable to repeat his win from 12 months ago in recurve men. The six-time champion lost his quarterfinal match on Sunday to Jean-Charles Valladont (FRA) by six points to four.
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