USA dominate team events as 2026 World Field wraps in Yankton

USA world field

The final day of competition at the Yankton 2026 World Archery Field Championships featured the team finals on the course at the NFAA Easton Yankton Archery Center, where the host nation, the USA, took three of the five available medals, including both full team titles.

Team events in world field archery feature the top three qualifiers from each country – one per bow style – so every team fields one compound, one recurve, and one barebow archer.

The men‘s title was the tightest of all, with the USA team of Gaius Carter, Ryan Davis, and Brady Ellison facing a powerhouse Italian team of Simone Barbieri, Matteo Borsani, and Michea Godano. The teams were deadlocked from the second target onward, forcing a shoot-off at the last where the target on a crane was lowered to a more familiar height.

The USA’s opener, barebow Ryan Davis, then delivered a superb six, which his teammates followed with a six and a five for the win. It was perhaps the best arrow under pressure of the entire day. “The only thing going through my mind was to trust the process and finish strong. For the shootoff, all I could do was control the controllable, which was my next arrow,” Davis said afterwards. 

”You must put the time in to know your shot for angles, and then you have to commit when it presents itself. It feels like hard work has paid off…and it feels good!” 

Ellison, who lost his individual final on Saturday, said of the win: “Anytime you come away from World Champs with medals it's awesome. This week was such a struggle for me like I struggled in the rain. I had problems with my marks all week, like it was just everything constantly changing. 

“But this is my 25th World Championship medal that I have in recurve, which is pretty awesome. So that’s big, I love field. I’m excited about it and I can't wait until the next one.” Ellison also took a bronze with Casey Kaufhold in the mixed team event. 

Feeney & Tyack

The USA also won the women‘s team event with Paige Pearce, Erin Hollom, and Kaufhold having less trouble against Italy, leading from the start and edging further ahead each round.

Pearce and Carter, both of whom lost individual finals on Saturday, took gold in the compound mixed team round, once again at the expense of Italy.

There was better news for Italy in the barebow mixed team round, with Cinzia Noziglia and Matteo Uggeri thrashing Germany by nine points, 67-56 on the four-target course.

The surprise of the day came in the recurve mixed team event, with the Australian pairing of Alexandra Feeney and Ryan Tyack, who had qualified in sixth, just edging out the top seeds: the Italian pairing of World Games champion Matteo Borsani and 2024 World Field champion Roberta Di Francesco. 

Feeney and Tyack had previously defeated both Great Britain and the USA on the way to the final, both seeded higher than the Australian pair. Along with a mixed team bronze from husband and wife pairing Simon and Nicky Fairweather, it pushed Australia to fifth in the medal table, above better-known field powerhouses like Sweden and France.

The World Archery Field Championships are immediately followed by the Yankton 2026 World Archery 3D Championships held at the same venue. 

Team champions: 2026 World Field

Compétitions