Spain Wins Historic Mixed Team Archery Gold at 2025 World Championships
Spain’s Elia Canales and Andrés Temiño made history on September 10, 2025, by capturing the mixed team recurve gold medal at the World Archery Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. Their 6-2 victory over host nation South Korea in the final marked Spain’s first-ever world championship title in Olympic recurve archery, ending a 28-year wait for a global podium finish in the discipline.
The triumph came after a remarkable tournament run where the Spanish duo set a new national record during the qualification round. Canales and Temiño scored 1,364 points, securing the third-best total among all competitors and earning a direct passage to the final. This performance surpassed Spain’s previous best result—a silver medal in men’s compound team archery from the 1997 World Championships.
Facing overwhelming favorites South Korea, whose athletes An San and Kim Woojin boast a combined eight Olympic gold medals and 14 world medals, the Spaniards displayed remarkable composure. An San had won three golds at the Paris 2024 Olympics (individual, team, and mixed team), although Kim Woojin added two more from Tokyo 2020. Despite the daunting opposition, Canales and Temiño never faltered in the final, maintaining steady aim throughout the match.
The victory represents a watershed moment for Spanish archery. As the first Olympic recurve medal for Spain at a World Championship, it signals a new era for a program that had previously struggled to reach the podium in international competition. The achievement was particularly significant given the venue—Gwangju, South Korea—where the host nation had dominated the sport for years.
Both athletes brought unique strengths to the partnership. Canales, a 24-year-old from Tarragona who represented Spain at the Paris 2024 Olympics, combined with Temiño, a 21-year-old from Aragon affiliated with the Club de Tir amb Arc Constantí. Their collaboration exemplified the growing depth of Spanish archery talent across different regions of the country.
The Spanish team’s success highlights the increasing competitiveness of non-traditional archery powers on the world stage. While South Korea, China, and other established nations continue to dominate individual events, Spain’s mixed team victory demonstrates that strategic pairings and meticulous preparation can yield historic results even against the sport’s traditional powerhouses.
Looking ahead, this championship gold provides momentum for Spain’s archery program as it prepares for future international competitions. The victory serves as inspiration for emerging archers across Spain and validates the long-term investment in coaching, training facilities, and athlete development programs that have gradually elevated the nation’s standing in the sport.
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