Madrid makes Hyundai Archery World Cup debut with over 300 archers competing

More than 300 of the world’s best archers are set to descend on Madrid from 8 to 13 July as Spain’s capital hosts a stage of the Hyundai Archery World Cup for the first time.

The city welcomes the fourth and final stage of the 2025 international circuit before the season finale in Nanjing. The Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in October will feature individual winners from all four stages in the recurve and compound events – plus the highest-ranked athletes who did not win gold in Central Florida, Shanghai or Antalya.

Madrid may be making its debut as a World Cup stage, but it’s no stranger to major events. It hosted the World Archery Youth Championships in 2019, the World Archery Championships in 2005 and co-hosted the 1992 Paralympic Games with Barcelona.

Three of the four defending Hyundai Archery World Cup Champions will compete at Vallehermoso Stadium: Kim Woojin (recurve men), Li Jiaman (recurve women) and James Lutz (compound men). Sara Lopez, the defending champion in compound women, will not attend.

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Key information

What’s happening? The fourth stage of the Hyundai Archery World Cup on 8-13 July 2025 at Vallehermoso Stadium (qualification and eliminations) and Explanada Puente Del Rey (finals).

What’s at stake? A last chance for archers to book a ticket to the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in Nanjing, China.

Who’s competing? 336 archers from 49 countries.

What’s the story? This is Madrid’s first time on the World Cup circuit – and it arrives at a crucial point in the outdoor season. With the largest field of the year, this stage promises to be the most competitive international outdoor event of 2025 as archers battle for the final spots at the season-ending grand finale. It also serves as valuable preparation ahead of the Hyundai World Archery Championships in Gwangju, Korea in September.

Event schedule

• Tuesday 8 July: Compound qualifying
• Wednesday 9 July: Recurve qualifying
• Thursday 10 July: Compound eliminations
• Friday 11 July: Recurve eliminations
• Saturday 12 July: Compound finals*
• Sunday 13 July: Recurve finals*

*Teams in the morning, individual final fours in the afternoon.

Last chance saloon

We are in the midst of summer, but near the end of the 2025 Hyundai Archery World Cup season.

Eleven archers have already booked their tickets to Nanjing. (There were 12 spots available per category so far, but Andrea Becerra has won twice in compound women. Madrid is the last opportunity for athletes to secure an individual stage win and claim a place at the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in October.

It’s the last-chance saloon for archers to shoot their way into Nanjing – and to win the coveted trophy and 30,000 CHF, the largest prize purse of any international archery tournament. 

Tensions are expected to run high in central Spain, with temperatures forecast to approach 40°C next week.

For compound archers, in particular, Madrid holds extra weight as the last major test before the World Games in Chengdu, which take place next month.

Becerra versus Gibson continues

Chengdu and Madrid are top of mind, but so is the battle for the world number one spot between Andrea Becerra and Ella Gibson in compound women. 

Great Britain’s Gibson reached 1000 days ranked number one back in April – an incredible milestone – but the position has since bounced between the 72-arrow world record holder and Mexico’s Becerra.

Coming into 2025, Becerra was a ‘nearly-athlete’, finishing second at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games, the Berlin 2023 Hyundai World Archery Championships and two World Cup stages last season (Shanghai and Yecheon). But something has shifted this year.

She won gold in Central Florida and Antalya, making her the only archer in any category to win two stages in 2025 so far.

Becerra is currently number one – and she’s been clear about how much it means to arrive in Chengdu as the queen of compound.

Gibson will have her sights set on the same goal. The duel continues in Madrid.

Who’s competing?

All four individual winners from the last Hyundai Archery World Cup in Antalya are set to compete in Spain next week:

• Recurve men: Marcus D’Almeida, Brazil
• Recurve women: Lim Sihyeon, Korea
• Compound men: Nicolas Girard, France
• Compound women: Andrea Becerra, Mexico

These are the top-ranked archers shooting in Madrid:

• Recurve men: Brady Ellison, USA (world rank: 1)
• Recurve women: Lim Sihyeon, Korea (world rank: 1)
• Compound men: Mike Schloesser, Netherlands (world rank: 1)
• Compound women: Andrea Becerra, Mexico (world rank: 1)

A total of 336 archers (105 recurve men, 85 recurve women, 85 compound men and 61 compound women) from the following 49 teams are registered for the tournament:

AIN, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, France, Great Britain, Georgia, Germany, Guatemala, Hong Kong China, Hungary, Indonesia, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Türkiye, USA.

Competition in Madrid begins with compound qualifying on Tuesday afternoon.