Gritty USA team grinds out results to win deserved mixed gold in Dakar
No stone was truly unturned for the USA as they defeated France convincingly to win the mixed team gold medal at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.
That phrase might suggest that Aarya Arun and Ye-eun Whang’s victory against France was hard-fought, but the scoreline starkly contrasted with that, as the match ended 5-1, with a consistent 38 in all three sets, while Maël Lamouret – Sunday’s recurve men’s under-18 champion – and Aurane Lapouge managed 37, 36 and 38.
“My mom [in the crowd] was telling me to be confident, to push and make sure I don’t regret the shot, so she was boosting my confidence a lot,” revealed Whang, who leaves Dakar with two medals around her neck after taking silver in the women’s individual event on Monday.
It was the journey to that gold medal match, however, that really tells the story of mettle for the US duo.
To start the day, Arun and Whang edged Slovakia 5-3 in a close encounter before their resolve was fully tested against the great archery nation of Korea in the semifinal.
Neither side dropped an end lower than 37, and the USA even scored a perfect 40 in the second set, something Korea could not do.
Nevertheless, Lee Jiho and Kim Sumin tied with the Americans 38-38 in the last end to make the scoreline 4-4 and force a shoot-off.
Sumin had only recorded two nines in the regular match, but whether it was nerves or something else, she dropped one at the far left of the outer gold ring.
As both Jiho and Whang found the 10-ring, it was up to under-18 double 60-metre world record holder Arun to do the same to get the USA the top podium spot.
Even better, it was a 10X – the X-ring being the central zone within the 10-ring used to break ties in qualification – much to his and Whang’s delight, with their celebrations after that match almost as jubilant as those following their victory against France in the final.
“My parents and coach were in the crowd, so I was just waving to them to get their attention,” added Aarya, as he and Whang now join Trenton Cowles [Buenos Aires 2018] as USA Youth Olympic archery gold medallists.
It may have been on full display at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium – which was once again scorching in Senegal – but this USA team was showing signs that it wasn’t going to be messing around in Dakar.
Arun, in fact, told USA Archery before travelling how, despite his age of 16 and the fact that it would be his maiden international competition, he had been keeping his eyes on the Youth Olympic Games podium for “many years” and that he was “pushing” for the LA28 senior Olympic Games team.
Those were big statements to make as a teenager, though he and Whang backed them up in Senegal.
“I knew the draw wasn’t finished until the last arrow left, so I just tried to stay confident and focused until the last arrow was shot,” Arun commented when discussing how he felt shooting the winning arrow against France.
“I’m really proud and I’m very excited because I’m bringing home two medals to represent my country, and I hope everyone at home is proud,” added his teammate Whang.
They talked the talk and walked the walk.
Should these two spirited athletes develop into the A-team, as Cowles did after Buenos Aires, the USA could once again have two more exciting prospects on its hands.
The mixed team event was the last action of archery at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, with the multisport event officially running until Friday 13 November.
You can watch back all the individual and mixed team matches here.
Podium: Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games
Full results on the event page.
Recurve mixed team
- USA (Aarya Arun, Whang Ye-eun)
- France (Maël Lamouret, Aurane Lapouge)
- Korea (Lee Jiho, Kim Sumin)
