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Ruiz goes through emotional rollercoaster to become compound women World Cup champion

12 septembre 2026

Saltillo (Mexico)

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Alexis Ruiz punching in the air after winning the Saltillo 2026 compound women World Cup Final.

Alexis Ruiz went from the joys of sadness to sheer joy in Saltillo as she beat host nation favourite Dafne Quintero to win the compound women's 2026 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final.

The American defeated the two-time World Cup Final bronze medallist 145-144, which was an achievement in itself considering how packed the stands at Plaza de Armas were, not just with compatriots to Quintero but fellow people from her home state of Coahuila.

Ruiz's journey to being the first compound women's circuit champion from the USA since Jamie Van Natta at Tokyo 2012 though, was wobbled right at the beginning in her quarterfinal against Lisell Jaatma.

The pair went to a shoot-off at 143 and although both hit high nines close to the 10-ring, it looked as if Ruiz had got the better of the sudden death.

This year's Pan American double gold medallist seemed confident herself that she'd get the nod but the line judge, although said she had won, accidentally raised her right arm pointing towards Jaatma's target.

“It's been such a roller coaster of emotions today,” said a teary-eyed Ruiz, whose loss was swiftly reverted to a win after the first match. “From thinking I lost my first match to all of a sudden being in the gold medal match. That match was so close between me and Dafne, it literally came down to the last arrow. I can't even describe the joy I'm feeling right now.”

“I honestly hardly remember that match against Sara [Lopez]. My emotions were just all over the place. It was so hard to settle down after the loss and then thinking ‘Oh my gosh, I'm back to shooting again.’”

“I was just trying to keep my emotions in check long enough to shoot my bow.”

Alexis Ruiz aiming with Dafne Quintero in the background.

The match against Sara was also unusual in that the nine-time champion of the circuit - all eyes were peeled on her coming into Saltillo whether she could notch trophy number 10 - missed an arrow in the fourth end.

Sara later made up for it though by beating Great Britain's Ella Gibson in the bronze medal match.

For Ruiz, however, to shoot in such strange circumstances and then having to go into the cauldron against a Mexican in Mexico proved as much as anything that she is made of strong stuff.

The 27-year-old athlete also mentioned how physically she was not healed from a dramatic accident she suffered just weeks ago.

“I don't know how many people know, but I was in a car accident a month ago, so I'm not fully healed. So I knew I had that challenge going into today and then just all the mental stuff I had to go through.”

“I think I realized a new capability of who I am and what I can handle.”

Ruiz has for the past couple of years been the top-ranked compound women's archer of USA, which is no easy feat considering the depth of talent there is in the country, but now, after everything that happened this afternoon, Plaza de Armas is the place she announced her mettle as a competitor to herself and the watching world.

The Jaatma match was tough on its own but she pulled through that, beat the greatest of all time and then the popular Quintero, which many could not.

The action continues this weekend in Saltillo with the recurve finals taking place tomorrow, which you can watch live with a subscription to archery+.