PUEBLA, Mexico – A little over a week after competing at the final event of the 2026 Indoor Archery World Series, the USA’s top recurve and compound archers now shift outdoors for Stage #1 of the 2026 Hyundai Archery World Cup, taking place April 7–12 in the historic Mexican city of Puebla.
The opening stage marks a significant early test in the outdoor season, with a mix of seasoned internationals and emerging talent representing the United States across both recurve and compound divisions.
In compound men, Stephan Hansen makes his USA World Cup debut alongside Louis Price, James Lutz and Sawyer Sullivan. For Hansen, the moment carries both excitement and a sense of unfamiliarity as he steps onto the World Cup stage under the U.S. flag. He has previously featured at 29 World Cup stages for Denmark, claiming a total of 24 medals.
“Honestly it feels a little strange. Also, because I haven’t shot World Cups for a long time. But USA was always the country to beat and now I’m part of it and hope we can do very good together,” Hansen said of his debut.
Despite limited time to prepare following the Vegas event, he remains confident in his form heading into competition. “Shooting has been alright. Vegas was good but not too many days to get fully ready. But I feel excited and I’ll be ready when we start.”
The compound women include former world number one, Alexis Ruiz, as well as former world number two, Paige Pearce. Pearce featured in Stage #4 of the Archery World Cup in Spain last year, her first appearance at the World Cup since September 2021. This, though, will be her 26th World Cup stage – only Brady Ellison (65) and Hansen have appeared at more.
Liko Arreola and Olivia Dean complete the compound women’s quartet. For Arreola, this marks a return to the World Cup for the first time since featuring at the World Cup Final in September 2023. She qualified for the World Cup Final having won on her one and only previous appearance, at Stage #3 in Colombia three years ago.
In claiming the individual gold, Arreola became the youngest individual medalist at a World Cup aged just 15 years and 330 days. She was also part of the compound women’s team to take gold, alongside Ruiz and Dean. Both Arreola and Dean were making their World Cup debut.
The recurve division is also awash with talent and experience. Christian Stoddard, who made his World Cup debut in 2025, joins men’s world number two Ellison, Trenton Cowles and Jack Williams on the men’s side. Martin is also in fine company on the women’s side, teaming up with Olympic trio Catalina GNoriega, Casey Kaufhold – the women’s world number two – and Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez.
Follow along with the latest scores and results, plus with a subscription to archery+ you can watch live coverage of the team and individual finals over the weekend.
| RECURVE MEN | RECURVE WOMEN | COMPOUND MEN | COMPOUND WOMEN |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Brady Ellison |
Casey Kaufhold |
James Lutz |
Alexis Ruiz |
|
Christian Stoddard |
Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez |
Louis Price |
Olivia Dean |
|
Trenton Cowles |
Catalina GNoriega |
Stephan Hansen |
Paige Pearce |
|
Jack Williams |
Olivia Martin |
Sawyer Sullivan |
Liko Arreola |
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