USA under-21 recurve men stun Korea on team finals day at Winnipeg 2025

The USA’s under-21 recurve men beat Korea on team finals day at Winnipeg 2025 in the most dramatic upset of a damp and windy meet, which saw most medals return to Asia.

Christian Stoddard, Jack Krengel and Joshua Baek defeated Korea 5–1 in a difficult match held in torrential rain and wind.

“Feeling ecstatic,” said Stoddard. “Just the culmination of all of our hard work feels so good.”

“It was like straight out of a movie,” said Baek of the conditions. “I don’t think I’ve ever shot a match like that in my life, but it was so much fun. They were facing the same conditions as us. We just had to shoot our best, and we kept a really good attitude.”

The match was over in three sets. Both teams opened with ends of 51, with loose arrows from both sides. The USA edged out the second set 54–53, as the Korean trio managed just one arrow in the 10-ring amid the rain and gloom.

In the final set, wayward arrows continued from both sides, but the Korean threat evaporated, with their best effort a single nine from anchor Min Seongwook. 

“I mean, of course [beating them] does mean a lot, but I think Korea is just another country, and we treated it like all our other matches,” added Stoddard.

The USA’s youth men, now coached by former Spanish national team coach Elias Cuesta, were the biggest surprise on a recurve day otherwise dominated by Korea, who won all three of their other finals: under-21 women, and under-18 men and women, all at the expense of Chinese Taipei.

Chinese Taipei were unlucky again in the under-21 compound women’s final, won by the USA 227–224. India’s under-18 men bested the USA, winning 224–222, while their under-21 men narrowly defeated Germany in a shoot-off.

One other nation managed to beat Korea: Türkiye’s under-18 compound women, who won in a shoot-off after tying 227–227 in the rain.

The competition continues with mixed team and individual compound finals on Saturday. 

You can watch finals coverage from Winnipeg on 23-24 August with a subscription to archery+.