News

Double delight for Temiño Mediel: Spain’s first individual world title secured in Gwangju

11 September 2025

Gwangju, Korea

Real name:

Andres Temino Mediel roaring with his coach after winning the World Championships.

Andres Temiño Mediel shed tears of joy once again as he defeated Marcus D’Almeida in a shoot-off to become recurve men’s world champion at the Gwangju 2025 Hyundai World Archery Championships.

It looked as though the Spaniard might clinch the match 6-4, but his first arrow of the fifth set was downgraded from a possible 10 to a nine by target judge Qu Yinan. That left the set tied at 28 apiece and the match locked at 5-5.

The 21-year-old still had one more 10 in reserve. He delivered it in the shoot-off, his arrow landing just to the right of the spider, while D’Almeida faltered with a nine. The bright afternoon sun at 5.18 Democracy Square had caused problems for many archers, but Temiño Mediel kept his composure when it mattered most.

“Even more excited than yesterday, very happy with what we’ve achieved and now it’s time to enjoy it,” he said of his second gold medal in Gwangju, following yesterday’s mixed team historic success with Elia Canales.

“I didn’t do anything different than usual. I continued doing what I’ve been doing throughout the competition, especially being present at every moment so as not to get caught up in what could happen, and it happened.”

It has been almost the perfect week for the second seed. In only his second Hyundai World Archery Championships, Temiño Mediel set a personal best of 692 in qualification and delivered unprecedented milestones for Spanish archery.

Before yesterday, Spain had no gold medals at a World Archery Championships. Before today? Not a single individual world champion – quite astonishing for one of Europe’s biggest archery nations, which has hosted major events like the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games, the 2005 World Archery Championships, the 2019 World Archery Youth Championships and, most recently, the fourth stage of the Hyundai Archery World Cup, all three in Madrid.

The 48 million people of Spain have Shanghai 2024 gold medallist Temiño Mediel to thank for changing that narrative, pulling through tough matches in the searing afternoon heat at 5.18 Democracy Square.

Spain team throwing Temino Mediel in the air.

Temiño Mediel’s run to the final was anything but easy. Each of his three matches before D’Almeida ended 6-4: Chinese Taipei’s Su Yu-Yang in the last 16, Mexico’s Matias Grande in the quarterfinals, and then Korea’s Kim Je Deok – the eventual bronze medallist – in the semifinals.

Je Deok was the last Korean man standing following earlier exits of Kim Woojin – at the hands of D’Almeida in the third round – and Lee Woo Seok.

It was a baptism of fire for an archer that had only made it to the final fours once in his young senior career but those are often the tells of a dominant athlete in the making.

The Spaniard’s victory puts him in uncharted territory as the nation’s first individual World Archery Champion. For now, he stands alone in Spanish archery folklore alongside 2015 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final winner Miguel Alvarino Garcia – and at just 21, he is only beginning.

“A little bit of enjoying every day, working hard every day,” he explained when asked why Gwangju had been so successful. “It’s true that I’m coming to the most important part of the season at the best moment of the year.”

“I’ve achieved my personal best in qualification, now two gold medals in the world championships, doing it with the same philosophy we’ve had all season: working really hard, enjoying myself, and giving it my all.”

The celebrations told the story: Temiño Mediel and coach Juan Morago were hoisted into the air by teammates in scenes of pure joy.

For Marcus D’Almeida, the wait for a world title continues. The Brazilian collected bronze at Yankton 2021 and silver in both Berlin 2023 and now Gwangju 2025. His dream of becoming Brazil’s first world champion is still alive, but unfulfilled.

He will have another chance at glory next month at the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in Nanjing, where victory would cap a highly successful season.

Attention now turns to the recurve women’s competition. The last 16 takes place tomorrow morning, followed by medal matches in the afternoon – all live with a subscription to archery+.