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Gazoz beats Nespoli to gold once again in Tokyo rematch at Madrid 2026 World Cup

12 July 2026

Madrid, Spain

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Mete Gazoz dispatched Mauro Nespoli comfortably to take a convincing win in the recurve men gold medal match at Madrid 2026 - stage four of the Hyundai Archery World Cup.

Following the confirmation of the final fours on Friday, Sunday's afternoon session therefore offered up the tantalising prospect of seeing a rerun of the pair's famous match in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Turkiye's Gazoz went on to win 6-4.

Unfortunately for Italy's Nespoli though, his former foe – who has beaten him this year at the semifinals of the Europeans – was in fine fettle and mastered the occasional gusts that swept through the Complutense National Stadium far better.

The 2024 European and Berlin 2023 World champion shot 29, 30 and looked set for a thumping third end score as he dropped his sixth and seventh 10s of the match.

Following Nespoli's 10, 8, 7, in the third end, Gazoz needed at least a six to record his first World Cup gold since Berlin 2019 and although many would've been expecting at least a nine, it stayed very wide to the right but luckily for him not wide enough to give his opponent a chance to come back.

“I wasn't expecting that, but I had made a really good decision,” giggled Gazoz to archery+ after the 6-0 victory. “Everything was great. Just as I was about to make the final shot, the wind hit really hard and pulled the bow to the right. It went for a 6. I mean, whatever number of points I need to hit, I'll hit that one.”

“I remember the Olympics and also this year's European Championships semi-final. Mauro won the [silver] medal and I lost against him in the semi-final.”

“This time I wanted to win this one, and this year I won one [a stage]. We'll see in the World Cup Final... I hope it's the same final.”

An archer speaks to his coach on the field

“I love shooting with him because he's had a really good career. He won the recurve men team Olympic silver in 2008. I was nine years old then. He's a really big name, and I have so much respect for him because of his age and the fact he can still show such a good performance.”

As respectful to his opponents as Gazoz is and always has been, he will be returning to Türkiye knowing that he handled the conditions in Madrid as best as anyone could on the day with Nespoli gesticulating with his hands when he dropped the seven – the last arrow of the Taipei Archery Open gold medalist's match.

However, Gazoz has slowly but surely been climbing to this form throughout the season, staring with bronze in Puebla [stage one], silver in Shanghai [stage two] and finally gold in Madrid.

This steady, incremental increase in quality during the season is deliberate with Gazoz revealing in the week how Turkiye's training programmes are partly designed for its athletes to peak their performances in the end of summer where the season's biggest competitions usually take place.

For Istanbul-native Gazoz and his teammates this year that is the Taranto 2026 Mediterranean Games.

The meticulous planning therefore – spearheaded by technical director and national team head coach Yusuf Goktug Ergin – brings little wonder as to how the 27-year-old performed today, also for Elif Gokkir who got her first World Cup individual [silver] in the recurve women earlier.

“It's actually everything, not just the technique or just physical strength, it's everything... It's about the process,” he added. “We're always preparing for the last competition because the World Championships, Europeans, Olympics – every major competition – is in the first week of August or July.”

“This is my third individual gold medal, and all my gold medals have come around the same date as the last World Cup.”

Gold for Gazoz concluded the 2026 Hyundai Archery World Cup, with the circuit now ready to be culminated in September’s World Cup Final in Saltillo, Mexico.