Baptiste Addis was one of four Hyundai Archery World Cup regulars who poled comfortably on Tuesday at the Rome 2026 European Youth Championships.
The event gives Europe’s top prospects in recurve and compound the chance to compete alongside athletes who already shoot regularly on archery’s premier international circuit – with barebow the obvious exception.
But the quality that has fast-tracked these athletes into senior competition shone through at the Rome Capitol Camping Village as France's Addis cruised to top seed in the recurve under-21 men category.
It is the fourth time this outdoor season that the Paris 2024 Olympic recurve men’s team silver medallist has notched the highest ranking position from the 72-arrow round at a tournament following Puebla 2026, the senior European Championships and Antalya 2026.
Addis’s score in the Italian capital didn't beat his season best of 688, but was more than enough to quell the 61-athlete field as he registered 675 with 11 Xs, a 10-point gap between second seed Maksim Malafeev.
It means the 19-year-old archer will have two byes before the 1/16 round on Thursday and gives him the strongest possible chance to record his first individual gold medal since he won the European Youth Cup in 2022.
As well as Addis, Türkiye’s Dunya Yenihayat – who, at 17, has already competed at 22 international events – also dominated recurve under-18 women, scoring 682 with a staggering 26 10s.
Spain’s Paula Álvarez González (recurve under-21 women) and Germany’s World Youth Champion Simon Moritz (compound under-21) – both regular members of their national senior teams in 2026 – also topped qualification in Rome.
Attention now turns to Wednesday’s mixed team and team eliminations.
Top seeds: Rome 2026 European Youth Championships
Full results are available on the event page.
- Recurve under-21 men: Baptiste Addis, France – 675
- Recurve under-21 women: Paula Álvarez González, Spain – 663
- Recurve under-18 men: Arthur Gerardin, France – 674
- Recurve under-18 women: Dunya Yenihayat, Türkiye – 682
- Compound under-21 men: Simon Moritz, Germany – 711
- Compound under-21 women: Begum Yuva, Türkiye – 685
- Compound under-18 men: Gianluca De Silvio, Germany – 695
- Compound under-18 women: Lily Wright, Great Britain – 686
- Barebow under-21 men: Oliver Hicks, Great Britain – 653
- Barebow under-21 women: Evie Finnegan, Great Britain – 585
