Gritty USA grind out results to win deserved mixed team gold at Dakar 2026

No stone was truly unturned for USA as they defeated France convincingly to win the mixed team gold medal at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

That phrase might infer that Aarya Arun and Whang Ye-eun’s victory against France was hard-fought, but the scoreline starkly contrasts it, as the match ended 5-1, with a consistent 38 in all three sets, while Maël Lamouret - Sunday’s recurve men’s under-18 champion - and Aurane Lapouge managed 37, 36 and 38 respectively.

It was the journey to that gold medal match, however, that really tells the story of mettle for the American duo.

To start the day, Arun and Whang edged Slovakia 5-3 in a close encounter before their resolve was fully tested against the great archery nation of Korea in the semi-final.

Neither side dropped ends lower than 37, and USA even got a perfect 40 in the second set, something Korea could not do.

Nevertheless, Lee Jiho and Kim Sumin tied with the Americans 38-38 in the last end to make the scoreline 4-4 and force the shoot-off.

The latter had only recorded two nines in the regular match, but whether it was nerves or something else, Sumin dropped one at the far left of the outer gold ring.

As both Jiho and Whang found the 10-ring, it was up to under-18 double 60-metre world record holder Arun to do the same to get USA the top podium.

Even better, it was an X, much to his and Whang’s delight, whose celebrations after that match were almost as jubilant as their ones against France in the actual final.

“My mom [in the crowd] was telling me to be confident, to push and make sure I don’t regret the shot, so she was boosting my confidence a lot,” revealed Whang, who leaves Dakar with two medals around her neck after taking silver in the women’s individual yesterday.

“My parents and coach were in the crowd, so I was just waving to them to get their attention,” added Aarya, as he and Whang now join Trenton Cowles [Buenos Aires 2018] as the only American archery gold medallists.

It may have been on full display at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium - which was once again scorching in Senegal - but this USA team were showing signs that they weren’t going to be messing around in Dakar.

Arun, in fact, told USA Archery before travelling how, despite his age at 16 and the fact it would be his maiden international competition, he had been keeping his eyes on the Youth Olympic Games podium for “many years” and that he was “pushing” for the LA28 senior Olympic Games team.

Those were big statements to make as a teenager, though he and Whang backed it up in Senegal.

“I knew the draw wasn’t finished until the last arrow left, so I just tried to stay confident and focused until the last arrow was shot,” he commented when discussing how he felt shooting the winning arrow against France.

“I’m really proud and I’m very excited because I’m bringing home two medals to represent my country, and I hope everyone at home is proud,” added his teammate Whang.

They talked the talk and walked the walk.

Should these two spirited athletes develop into the A-team as Cowles did after Buenos Aires, then USA once again have two more exciting prospects on their hands.

The mixed team was the last action of archery at the Dakar Youth Olympic Games, with the multisport event officially running until Friday 13 November.

You can watch back all the individual and mixed team matches here.

Podium: Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games

Full results on the event page.

Recurve mixed team

1. USA (Aarya Arun, Whang Ye-eun)
2. France (Maël Lamouret, Aurane Lapouge)
3. Korea (Lee Jiho, Kim Sumin)