As he searches for his first individual medal of the year, Kim Woojin gave himself the best possible chance to get one on Wednesday as he finished top of the recurve men qualifications at Madrid 2026 - the fourth and final stop of the Hyundai Archery World Cup.
The triple Paris 2024 gold medallist shot the most 10s (31) and joint-most Xs (20) alongside compatriot Kim Je Deok at the Vallehermoso Stadium to record a total of 695, four points more than the Antalya 2026 [stage 3] winner Dhiraj Bommadevara, for pole position out of 115 archers - the biggest recurve men field of the year.
It's Woojin’s first top-seed finish after the 72-arrow round this year and his first one on archery's premier international circuit since Shanghai 2025 - which he went on to win.
“I haven't won an individual medal this season yet,” stated the all-time great following the evening session, which began at 16:30hrs local time due to a thunderstorm yesterday that had pushed the compound 1/48 rounds into the morning session at Madrid. “Well, I prepared hard for the individual events, but it seems like luck hasn't been on my side this season. However, I will do my utmost to achieve better results in the Madrid World Cup and reach the highest podium.”
“I set the best score and I am very happy to be featured again in this World Cup. Since I have set a new record for this season, I will do my best to achieve good results in this World Cup.”
Woojin's qualification results in Shanghai [stage 2] and Antalya would not have tainted anyone's view that he could return to the top of qualification at Madrid, such is his standing in the sport.
It may be the last chance, but you almost felt it was a matter of when, not if, he'd pole in the Spanish capital.
What has been a surprise, though, is his results individually in matches this season.
In Shanghai he was made to face Mete Gazoz in the quarterfinals, which is a tough task even for the five-time World Cup champion, but in a shoot-off situation you would still back him to get over the Tokyo 2020 gold medallist, or at least shoot a 10.
A nine is what he dropped in that match, however, with Gazoz's nine closer to the centre, and against Wei Chun-Heng in Antalya, Woojin didn't even get to the sudden death, losing 7-3 to Chun-Heng, an archer who wasn't even selected for one of the Chinese Taipei’s three recurve men’s quota places at Paris 2024.
Usually the great is as cool as a cucumber with World Cups, which he often refers to as preparation for upcoming bigger events, for example the 20th Asian Games, which occurs in September.
But after both results, Woojin, 34, looked irritated, almost agitated at himself, which he made amends for by then grabbing two golds with Je Deok and Lee Woo Seok in the men’s team at both events and silver in Shanghai in the mixed team alongside Oh Yejin.
He was unsurprisingly far more cheerful for himself, however, and not just because he saved himself from shooting a match in the blistering Madrid heat as the wind increased over the course of the evening, up to 12 kilometres an hour.
“The wind today was quite tough, and it seemed like many players struggled. However, by shooting with more confidence and focusing on the direction where the wind was right, I think I was able to shoot good scores again this year,” he added.
Woojin and the rest of the competition will hope the wind tames itself tomorrow to a more agreeable nature during tomorrow's recurve team eliminations, with mixed team matches following in the afternoon.
Top seeds: Madrid 2026
Full results on the event page.
Recurve men
- Kim Woojin, Korea – 695
- Dhiraj Bommadevara, India – 691
- Baptiste Addis, France – 688
Six archers shot 680+.
Recurve women
- Li Jiaman, China – 673
- Marie Horackova, Czechia – 671
- Oh Yejin, Korea – 668
Eleven archers shot 660+.
Madrid 2026: Five archers to watch
