News

Ella Gibson reaches tenth World Cup final four at Madrid 2026

10 July 2026

Madrid, Spain

Real name:

Ella Gibson just after releasing a shot during compound women matches at Madrid 2026.

Ella Gibson has saved her best performance of the season until last, securing a place in the compound women’s final four at the fourth stage of the 2026 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Madrid.

It comes a day after she and Ajay Scott booked their place in the compound mixed team gold medal match against Mexico, while her individual appearance at the Complutense National Stadium marks the 10th Hyundai Archery World Cup stage semifinal of her career at just 26 years of age.

Chinese Taipei’s Chen Yi-Hsuan stood between Gibson and the semifinals, but the Vegas Shoot champion produced a commanding 144-140 victory. The four-point margin was unusually comfortable at this level, with Chen failing to shoot a perfect 30-point end, while Gibson managed two despite strengthening winds at Vallehermoso Stadium.

It was Gibson’s fourth-round match against Sara Lopez, however, that proved her toughest test.

The contest swung back and forth throughout, with the lead changing hands several times. Trailing by one point at 118-117 going into the final end, Lopez shot a nine, while Gibson responded with two Xs and a 10 to force a shoot-off.

“I knew that would be a hard one,” said Gibson, who now holds a 4-1 head-to-head record against Lopez since the pair first met in 2022. “I knew she would’ve really wanted to beat me. I know we have plenty of history, so I was kind of prepared for that to be difficult.”

Gibson said she had expected Lopez to finish strongly and went into the final end focused only on executing her own shots rather than worrying about the outcome. The pair eventually went to a shoot-off, where Gibson prevailed by the narrowest of margins.

“We ended up in a shoot-off and then shot our arrows in almost identical places. I won that by like a shaft, so I shot some really good arrows at important moments. I definitely wasn’t perfect today, so in that sense I slightly got away with it, but I also think I was just in a better headspace to compete today and handle the not-so-good shots better.”

Ella Gibson and Sara Lopez shaking hands after their match at Madrid 2026.

With one medal already guaranteed and another opportunity to add to it in the compound mixed team final, Madrid has become Gibson’s strongest Hyundai Archery World Cup performance of the season.

Although she qualified well at each of the previous three stages, her best individual finish had been a quarterfinal appearance in Antalya, where she lost to eventual bronze medallist Arina Cherkezova.

A bronze medal at the European Outdoor Championships – also held in Antalya – remains her best result since returning to outdoor competition at 50 metres this summer, but her early exits on the World Cup circuit suggested she had been far from satisfied.

Even after Great Britain reached the compound mixed team final on Thursday, Gibson was quick to credit Scott rather than herself.

As modest as she has been throughout the week, though, she admitted the pressure of securing a place at the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in Saltillo – together with some equipment changes – had helped bring out her best.

Gibson said changing her arrow setup before the European Outdoor Championships had made her equipment much more forgiving after discovering her previous arrows had been too stiff.

“But also sometimes you just have to do it,” she added when asked what had changed in Madrid. “Going like, ‘If you don’t perform this week, you won’t be making the World Cup Final,’ and it’s just that simple.”

“I haven’t missed it since I first went and I want to keep that going. Of course, I want to win a medal since the change in the results last year. I’d really love to get a gold at some point.”

Gibson will look to move one step closer to that goal on Saturday afternoon when she contests the compound women’s semifinals. Earlier in the day, she and Scott will also shoot for compound mixed team gold at the Complutense National Stadium.