Mijno back on form as Nove Mesto wraps in a world championships year
Elisabetta Mijno, multiple world para medallist, dominated the finals at the second leg of the 2025 European Para Archery Cup in Nove Mesto, defeating sixth seed Ziva Lavrinc in straight sets with ends.
Seeded first, Mijno faced her toughest challenge in the semifinals against teammate Veronica Floreno, who briefly took the lead before settling for bronze.
“I am happy, of course. It’s been a very long competition with a lot of matches – a good training for the world championship. I try to keep it very simple and relax,” she said.
The 39-year-old Italian’s performance marked a return to form. Despite her long and storied career, dating back to her international debut in 2008, she is still seeking her first individual world or Paralympic title.
“I’ve never won the world championship individually,” she added. “I’ve won with the mixed team, but I don’t have an individual medal, so it’s time to do it. See you in Korea!”
The biggest surprise of the tournament came in the recurve men’s quarterfinals, where world number one Harvinder Singh fell 6-2 to veteran Polish archer Lukasz Ciszek, who went on to take bronze.
The men’s recurve title went to France’s Guillaume Toucoullet, a frequent para circuit medallist, who claimed his first major individual win since 2021. He edged Cameron Radigan 6-4 in a thrilling final, after the British archer had levelled the match following Toucoullet’s 4-0 lead.
“The week was perfect for me,” Toucoullet said. “I worked hard during training, and the final went very well. We are a small team for Gwangju, just two archers – Maxime Guérin and myself – so we feel good and prepared.”
“It’s a good competition in Nove Mesto. I’ve come here for a long time, and I like this field a lot.”
It was a frustrating second silver medal in a row from Radigan, who lost the final at the Rome leg to Dhanna Ram Godara, but continues to make serious waves on the circuit ahead of Gwangju, where he’ll be hungry for more than just a placing.
In compound women’s competition, Rio 2016 Paralympic Champion Jessica Stretton secured her second consecutive title, defeating Eleonora Sarti 146-140 in the gold medal match, with Sheetal Devi of India taking bronze.
Italy topped the medal table in Nove Mesto, followed by India and Great Britain, reversing the results from Rome. Attention now turns to the Gwangju 2025 World Archery Para Championships, set to start on 22 September.
You can rewatch the finals from Nove Mesto with a subscription to archery+.
Winners: Nove Mesto 2025
- Recurve men: Guillaume Toucoullet, France
- Recurve women: Elisabetta Mijno, Italy
- Compound men: Shyam Sunder Swami, India
- Compound women: Jessica Stretton, Great Britain
- W1 men: Paolo Tonon, Italy
- W1 women: Sarka Pultar Musilova, Czechia
Medal table: Nove Mesto 2025
Countries with at least one gold medal are listed.
Italy: 12 (5 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze)
India: 10 (4 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze)
Great Britain: 5 (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
Czechia: 3 (2 gold, 1 silver)
France: 2 (1 gold, 1 silver)
A total of 69 archers from 16 countries competed across 14 events, with athletes from 11 countries collecting 40 medals at the second leg of the European Para Archery Cup, held in Nove Mesto, Czechia from 23–31 August 2025.
