Best in Tlaxcala: who impressed us the most at the Pan American Championships
The Tlaxcala 2026 Pan American Championships was the third major tournament to be held in the Mexican city, and produced something rather special.
The championships date back more than 50 years, and Mexico actually hosted the inaugural edition in Acapulco back in 1972. With the early part of the week centred on securing quota places for the Lima 2027 Pan American Games, the team finals were held earlier in the week, so the weekend’s focus was on the mixed team and individual finals.
There were many standouts, but we've picked the three that impressed us the most. A special mention should go to Mexico’s Alejandra Valencia for securing her seventh championship gold medal; we have an interview with her on the way.
3. Jennifer Mucino
The 23-year-old Mucino has been part of two USA Olympic teams, at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, rising through the ranks just in time to make it to the delayed Tokyo Games.
Mucino has an interesting cross-cultural history, born in the USA but growing up in Mexico, and deciding she wanted to be an archer aged nine, after watching the 2011 Pan American Games on TV.
Since Tokyo, she has been a key part of the Casey Kaufhold led USA women’s recurve team since, and has a swathe of team golds in the cabinet – including that win over Korea in 2025.
Before Tlaxcala, her best individual international perfomance was a World Cup bronze in Medellin – notable for Mucino beating superstar Li Jiaman in the quarterfinal.
But in Mexico, she claimed the first senior outdoor individual title of her career, finishing with a 7-3 victory over Kaufhold in the recurve women’s final.
Perhaps Kaufhold was a little off her best in Mexico, but it shouldn't take away from the strength of Mucino’s performance on the stage; finding the extra gear exactly when she needed it. She also left Tlaxcala with team gold and mixed team silver, a sustained and deserved performance.
What else has she got in store?
2. Ava Jones
Jones exploded onto the USA barebow scene in 2025, setting indoor world record in U21 and U18 categories.
Earlier in 2026, she won the US national field championships. But still only 18 and at her first international tournament, perhaps expectations were moderate, even considering the small size of the field at these championships.
It wasn't the case though. Jones broke the barebow tournament qualification record with 624, and on the finals stage calmly claimed the first major international title of her career with a 7-3 victory over defending champion Johana Cindy Czako at 50m.
Czako put up a brave – and consistent – fight in the gold medal match. But Jones, with a classical and unfussy technique, put in ends of 30 and 29 to take victory.
The international barebow scene still may be fairly limited, but it look like its first major star might be on the way.
1. Marcus D’Almeida
Marcus’s rollercoaster career over the last decade or so comes with a long list of near misses and dips in form, but he has without question matured into an exceptional athlete. A key moment in that process was winning at this tournament in 2022 in Santiago, which paved the way for eleven months as world number one in 2023.
Still, it's been a tricky year by his standards, with three indifferent individual performances at the World Cups in Puebla, Shanghai, and Antalya – after booking a win last year in Antalya at his ninth attempt in the city.
“Today when I woke up, I said, ‘It doesn't matter who is next to me, I am going to do my job,’ and I know my level is very high, so I knew I could win,” he said.
In Tlaxcala, he narrowly beat Brady Ellison in a shoot-off, taking only his second win over Brady in six attempts dating back to 2014, then put on a crushing 6-0 display against the surprise semi-finalist Eric Peters.
More than the scoreline or the result; it showed D'Almeida as a different competitor, less rattled by a shot wandering, more clinical and clearly with far more trust in himself. It was a joy to watch, and perhaps will catalyse another big run of form for the Brazilian, with LA28 starting to loom.
Much of Marcus‘ career seems to have been trying to fulfil spectacular early promise, and never quite making it. The 2026 Marcus looks like there’s plenty left in the tank.
