Pablo Gomez Zuluaga produced the performance of his career to upset Mike Schloesser and claim compound men’s individual gold at the fourth stage of the 2026 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Madrid.
For a first individual Hyundai Archery World Cup title, it could hardly have come against a tougher opponent.
Schloesser had underlined his credentials earlier in the day by living up to his nickname, ‘Mister Perfect’, shooting a flawless 150 to defeat Simon Moritz – the Winnipeg 2025 World Archery Youth Championships under-18 champion – in the semifinals.
Gomez Zuluaga, meanwhile, had looked less convincing in his own semifinal, with only one perfect end in a 147-145 victory over Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chieh-Lun.
The final initially followed the expected script.
Schloesser opened with a perfect 30, while Gomez Zuluaga’s first arrow drifted into the nine, leaving the Colombian chasing from the outset.
But the momentum shifted in the closing stages.
Leading 89-88 after three ends, Schloesser twice dropped a point with narrowly wide nines in the final two ends. Gomez Zuluaga capitalised with back-to-back perfect 30s to secure a 148-147 victory.
“He’s an incredibly strong archer, so it’s rare for him to drop points like that,” Gomez Zuluaga said after defeating Schloesser for the first time. “You have to capitalise when it happens. During the match, I was trailing by a point for most of it.”
“In the end, he shot that nine, which gave me the slight advantage I needed to close it out – and we did. I think I achieved one of the goals I’ve had throughout my entire career, so I’ll just keep working, keep aiming for bigger things and I think we’re on the right track.”
