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Ella Gibson reaches her tenth World Cup final four at Madrid 2026

10 juillet 2026

Madrid, Spain

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Ella Gibson just after releasing a shot during compound women matches at Madrid 2026.

Ella Gibson has made sure to leave her best of the season until last as she confirmed her second appearance at the finals venue by getting into the compound women final four at Madrid 2026 - stage four of the Hyundai Archery World Cup.

It comes a day after she and Ajay Scott booked themselves into the compound mixed team final against Mexico, and her individual appearance at the National Complutense Stadium is her tenth World Cup stage semifinal at 26 years of age.

Chinese Taipei's Chen Yi-Hsuan was who stood in the the Vegas Shoot champion's way, Gibson overcoming her by 144-140 - a four-point gap, a stark difference in today's quality in the discipline - with Chen not executing one perfect 30 set whilst the Brit managed two despite the wind which picked up as the afternoon wore on at Vallehermoso Stadium.

It was Gibson's match against compound women all-time great Sara Lopez, however, in the 1/8 round that unsurprisingly proved to be her tightest contest, one that swung back and forth with the lead changing between ends.

Down one point though at 118-117, the nine-time World Cup victor dropped a nine whilst Gibson shot two Xs and a 10 to take it to a shoot-off.

“I knew that would be a hard one,” said Gibson, who now has two wins against Lopez in five individual attempts. “I knew she would've really wanted to beat me. I know we have plenty of history so I was kind of prepared for that to be difficult.”

“I took an early lead and then I did lose it and I went into the last end kind of expecting her to shoot three 10s. I was just kind of going with, ‘I'm going to shoot my shots and leave it up to you whether I win or not.’”

“We ended up in a shoot-off and then shot our arrows in almost identical places. I won that by like a shaft so I shot some really good arrows at important moments, but I definitely wasn't perfect today so in that sense, I slightly got away with it, but also I think I was just in a better headspace to compete today and handle not the best shots better.”

Ella Gibson and Sara Lopez shaking hands after their match at Madrid 2026.

With one guaranteed medal and two matches to get another, Madrid has turned out to be Gibson's best World Cup of the season.

Whilst still seeding highly in qualification in all four, the closest she came to a podium was the quarterfinals in Antalya [stage three], losing to the eventual bronze medallist Arina Cherkezova.

Bronze a couple of weeks before then - also in Antalya at the European Outdoor Championships - has been her best result since transitioning from indoors into 50 metres shooting this summer, but visibly her early exits have hinted she has been far from satisfied with the result.

Even yesterday Gibson played down her contributions for Great Britain, laying a lot of the credit on Scott.

As humble as she has been this week though, it is only her on the shooting line at the end of the day, and the pressure of wanting to guarantee a spot in Saltillo - the location for the 2026 Final - she felt gave her the necessary kick, in addition to some technical tweaks.

“I changed my arrow recipe before the European Championship, and that gave me a lot more forgiving setup. I think I was just a little bit too stiff in my arrows, so that helped a lot.”

“But also sometimes just having to do it,” she added when asked on the differences of Madrid. “Going like, if you don't perform this week, you'll not be making the World Cup Final and it's just that simple.”

“I haven't missed it since I first went and I want to keep that going. Of course, I want to win a medal since the change in the results last year. I'd really love to get a gold at some point.”

Tomorrow afternoon Gibson can get one step closer to Saltillo, but her focus will also be on the mixed team final, which is in the morning at the Complutense National Stadium as are all compound team gold medal matches.