Linda Grezzani latest barebow phenomenon to emerge from Italy

Sixteen-year-old Italian archer Linda Grezzani delivered one of the biggest surprises of the 2026 European Indoor Archery Championships in Plovdiv, defeating compatriot Cinzia Noziglia in a shoot-off to win barebow women’s gold.

It was a remarkable result against one of the discipline’s most decorated athletes.

Noziglia has long been the face of Italy’s elite barebow roster, racking up more than 50 international medals across field, indoor and 3D events. Just last week she left the continental indoor championships with gold in the team and mixed team events and silver in the individual.

“It’s quite a big thing going up against Cinzia, who has always been a huge role model and idol for me,” said Brescia resident Grezzani. “It’s always been a bit of a dream.”

“Competing against Cinzia and people like her was an incredible feeling. I’m happy I managed to do it. Just facing her was already a goal — then winning, winning is huge.”

Unlike recurve and compound, barebow legends can still peak well past the widely expected physical prime.

It was only last year that Simon Fairweather – the Olympic recurve men’s champion at Sydney 2000 – won silver in the barebow men’s field event at the Chengdu 2025 World Games as a 55-year-old, with Spain’s Cesar Vera Bringas joining him on the podium in third at 62.

As well as her age, there are other impressive layers that add to what Grezzani did in the Kolodruma Hall of Plovdiv.

Notably, she only started archery 18 months ago after asking her father to join his club – Gli Arcieri Bresciani – having wanted to try the sport since she was as young as five. Her first competition came in September 2024.

Only five months later, Grezzani travelled to her first international competition at the Samsun 2025 European Indoor Championships, where she seeded first and went on to win the barebow women under-21 category – again less than a year after starting the sport.

The teenager did the same in September last year, beating compatriot Barbara Feltre and Romania’s Stefania Lavinia Chirita at the European Field Championships in Walbrzych-Ksiaz.

In Plovdiv she dispatched experienced opponents Sophie Pasquet, Rutavile Pauliukaite and Elena Topliceanu 6-2, 6-0 and 6-0 en route to the final, before sealing her maiden senior gold against one of her country’s greatest barebow archers in a high-pressure shoot-off.

“It wasn’t nerve-racking, it was more fun,” Grezzani – the tournament’s number two seed – said when asked how she kept her composure. “Knowing you’re at the same level as someone so important and so good as Cinzia, enough to tie with her, was beautiful.”

“I really experience finals in a very relaxed and playful way, so staying on the field to shoot a few more arrows because of a tie is only a positive thing for me.”

Grezzani added that while she had always been capable of strong scores, she now manages competition better and remains calm, especially during finals or mentally demanding matches.

With more training, she said she has also come to enjoy head-to-head contests even more, particularly difficult ones like the final against Noziglia.

As well as developing the technical level all aspiring archers aim for on the world stage, the mental side of the coin – which at this level often separates the best from the rest – has given Grezzani – also the under-21 and under-18 world record holder at 25 metres – the upper hand against fellow athletes in her age group.

Not letting the anxiety of competitions get to her is a “strong point” as she called it, giving her the chance to have fun in environments which the stress-inducing sudden death format of shoot-offs may not offer for others, in fact for most.

The passing of the baton is one of sport’s predominant clichés, as is the changing of the guard, and both signify a moment in time in which greatness transitions from the elder statesman or woman to the future star of their team or sport.

Without doubt, Cinzia Noziglia will continue for many more years in barebow archery and continue to dominate the women’s event, but her shoot-off loss to Grezzani felt like one of those moments in time.

Even if it was only a small glimpse into the future, Grezzani’s rise bodes well for Italy’s barebow prospects and feels like another piece of the country’s dominance in the discipline, with three new barebow world records set at the Italian National Indoor Championships last week.

Three international golds from three appearances show that the talent and mentality are there for Linda Grezzani to progress further in 3D and field archery as well as indoor competition.

Now she just needs to maintain it… and the 16-year-old phenomenon knows it.

“With such a big result, having all of Italy congratulating you – and not only Italy but also the other countries that were at the championships – it’s always really beautiful,” she concluded.

“It’s a bit sad because a chapter closes, but another one will open.”

Header images courtesy of World Archery Europe. Other images courtesy of Francesco Sterza.