The 2026 Run Archery European Cup concluded in Poland on 11 October, crowning individual champions across the 4k and sprint categories, with team sprint competitions too.
It was the seventh edition of the event, and the increasing popularity of the discipline saw 107 athletes from 14 countries taking part, with large delegations from Italy, France, Great Britain and the host nation.
Saturday saw individual sprint competitions. Sprint consists of three laps of 400m and two shooting phases, with qualification rounds, semifinals and finals across the different age categories, with athletes allowed up to six arrows to hit four targets.
Sweden’s Linnéa Karlsson won the women’s sprint final A in 6:39, ahead of Germany’s Norma Carus-Weinitz and Sandra Szulc. In the men’s sprint, Marco Kreische of Germany finished first in 5:17, followed by Poland’s Marcin Malyszek and Florian Caqueret of France.
France then took the mixed team sprint title to conclude Saturday‘s action.
In Sunday‘s 4K competition, with four laps of one kilometre and three shooting phases, Karlsson again recorded the fastest time in the women’s event, finishing in 22:14, with Szulc and Great Britain’s Becky Stacey completing the top three.
In the men’s event, held in heavy rain, Saturday‘s bronze medallist Florian Caqueret led the standings with a time of 17:17, followed by Olivier Joubert, also of France, and Grzegorz Chwastek of Germany.
France took the women’s 4k team gold, with Great Britain taking the men’s title.
The sport is similar in format to biathlon and combines running with hit-or-miss shooting with recurve bows, with penalty laps incurred for a miss. Athletes, who have to carry their bows around the course, shoot on an outdoor 18m range at 16 centimetre targets from both standing and kneeling positions.
You can find out more about run archery with this set of videos from World Archery Europe.
