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Team USA tops medal stand at 2026 Pan American Youth and Masters Championships

29 mai 2026

Medellín, Colombia

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The United States made it three for three at the Pan American Youth and Masters Championships on Thursday, topping the podium for the third time in as many editions of the event with 31 medals – 11 gold, nine silver and 11 bronze – across five days of competition at the Unidad Deportiva Andrés Escobar in Medellín, Colombia.

Leading the American charge was Mark Williams, who closed the championship with three gold medals and two world records pending ratification. Williams won the recurve 50+ men's individual title and teamed with Ali Gungoraydinoglu and Mark Hainline to claim the recurve 50+ men's team gold. The trio shot 1897 points over 216 arrows at 60 metres, a mark that stands as a new world record in the category.

Williams also paired with Janis Grellner in the recurve 50+ mixed team event, where the pair shot 1239 over 144 arrows to surpass the previous world best of 1228 – set by Bruce Arnold and Tatyana Muntyan of the US Virgin Islands at the 2024 edition of the championships in El Salvador – on their way to gold. If both marks are confirmed, Williams will hold two recurve 50+ world records from the same event.

"We always have such a great time coming to these tournaments," Williams said. "It's always good to win."

Mark Williams and Janis Grellner pose after setting a world record

Mexico finished one medal behind the United States with 30 total – nine gold, 11 silver and 10 bronze – while host Colombia took third with 22, including seven gold, eight silver and seven bronze, the only other nation to reach double figures.

Williams was one of several multiple gold medallists across the field. Mexico's Osvaldo Ramirez won recurve under-21 men's individual and team gold, compatriot Axel Rangel morales took recurve under-18 men's individual and mixed team gold, and Colombia's Alejandro Gil Londoño claimed recurve under-15 men's individual and mixed team gold.

One of the week's most notable stories was Puerto Rico's Maria Latorre , who won compound 50+ women's individual gold before adding mixed team gold alongside her partner, Jaime Valentin. What made the achievement all the more striking was the path that brought her back to competition. Latorre said she had retired from the sport and was serving as a team delegate, helping support her son, Puerto Rican archer Jean Pizarro Latorre, and her daughter-in-law, nine-time world champion Sara Lopez of Colombia. It was that same family circle that persuaded her to compete again.

"They told me, 'You can do this, you're strong,' so I came and did it," Latorre said. "I really believed I could do it when I got here, and I gave it my all to make it happen."

She continued: "I credit consistency, practise, perseverance, working really hard and wanting it with all my heart," Latorre said. "My career isn't over. I can keep going, and I'm truly giving it my all so I can bring more titles to my country."

María LAtorre with Jean Pizarro and Sara López

Colombia's Jeronimo Agudelo Bedoya was another standout, claiming compound under-18 men's gold at just 14 years old. The young Colombian, who topped the qualification round with 699 and arrived in Medellín having recently won at the South American Youth Games, showed ambitions that stretch well beyond the present.

"This is a huge step toward the things I hope to accomplish in the future, like world championships and the Olympics," Agudelo said. "Of course, I'd love to represent both myself as a person and Colombia."

Canada's Cole Cahill and Jiayi Yuan provided one of the feel-good moments of the championship, combining to win compound under-15 mixed team gold over Mexico. Cahill, competing in his first international event, had topped the under-15 men's qualification with 693, setting a new Pan American Championships record at 40 metres in the process.

"I'm happy to get a medal in my first international competition," Cahill said. "I practised as much as I could. I did drills to handle the heat and the stress of the team shoot, and I think that made a big difference."

Yuan, for her part, took a more pragmatic approach to the event.

"I'm missing a lot of school for this," she said, "so I'm glad I'm not going home empty-handed."

Julián Gómez and Michelle Cardona Champions

The championship closed with Colombia's Michelle Dayana Cardona Alvarez and Julián Gomez Zuluaga, who had each led their respective qualifying rounds, combining to win the compound under-21 mixed team gold. Both had set event records during qualification – Cardona with 698 in the women's draw, Gómez with 706 in the men's – and both spoke of what the title meant after a week of hard work in front of a home crowd.

"Winning that medal, it feels like all the sacrifices we made were worth it," Cardona said. "It's truly a very important step for both of us. It's like we've proved to ourselves that we really can do it."

Added Gómez: "It's a very important start, because we've shown that we can do it, that we can do it very well and that we have everything it takes to do it again."

The 2026 Pan American Youth and Masters Championships drew a record 271 athletes from 16 nations, up from 139 competitors representing 10 countries at the inaugural standalone edition in Halifax, Canada, in 2022.