Best in Gwangju? Becerra delivers, Temiño Mediel makes history

It’s been less than 48 hours since the Gwangju 2025 Hyundai World Archery Championships came to a close – and for many of the week’s medallists, the scale of their achievements may still not have fully sunk in.

Standing on the podium at 5.18 Democracy Square was one thing. Being crowned a World Archery Champion – or a team gold medallist – was another.

Individually, compound women’s champion Andrea Becerra delivered on expectations after a stellar outdoor season and a strong all-round campaign in Korea. On the other hand, Spain’s Andres Temiño Mediel created history – not once, but twice.

Five hundred archers from around the world each shot at least 72 arrows in Gwangju. But who were the standout three?

3. Kang Chaeyoung, Korea

It was far from the perfect week the host nation had hoped for.

Korea claimed only one gold medal before Kang Chaeyoung’s triumph on the final day of competition. Fans who flocked to Gwangju – particularly for recurve, where Korea has long dominated the Olympic stage – were surely expecting more.

They have Kang to thank for salvaging a disappointing week. Her recurve women’s individual gold was all the more impressive given she eliminated hometown hero An San in the semifinals – clawing back from 4-0 down to beat the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Champion, 6-4.

An San had entered the match as top seed after breaking the mixed team world record and setting a new personal best in qualification. But Kang refused to fold, and in doing so, ended Korea’s campaign on a high.

2. Andrea Becerra, Mexico

Widely expected to win – and she delivered.

Andrea Becerra has had a near-perfect 2025 season, collecting her first senior individual world circuit gold, two Hyundai Archery World Cup stage wins and the Chengdu 2025 World Games title. Her results saw her replace long-standing Ella Gibson as the world’s number one ranked compound woman.

In Gwangju, four of five experts predicted she would be champion – and she never looked in doubt, leading from qualification through to the final.

Her shooting was immaculate, dropping just eight points from the 1/8 round to her gold-medal win over Sofia Paiz, achieved in torrential rain.

The victory confirmed what many already believed: with all-time-great Sara Lopez absent, Becerra is the archer to beat in compound women. All eyes will now turn to the Nanjing 2025 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final next month.

1. Andres Temiño Mediel, Spain

Who else could it be?

After starting with a personal best of 691 in qualification, Andres Temiño Mediel joined Elia Canales to win Spain’s first-ever World Archery Championships title in the recurve mixed team event.

The 21-year-old then embarked on a sensational run to the men’s individual final, defeating Madrid 2025 Hyundai Archery World Cup winner Matias Grande, Paris 2024 Olympic team gold medallist Kim Je Deok, and world number three Marcus D’Almeida in a shoot-off – the Brazilian having already eliminated Kim Wooji in the first round.

Temiño Mediel’s victory made him Spain’s first individual world champion – an astonishing breakthrough for one of Europe’s largest nations, with a long history of hosting major archery events.

His emotional reactions on both podiums showed what the achievement meant. To put it in perspective: this was only his second individual international medal, after the Shanghai 2024 Hyundai Archery World Cup.

With age on his side, the world will be watching to see what’s next for the breakout star of Gwangju.