Silver in Shanghai and bronze in Yecheon during 2024 had already established Canales and Temiño Mediel among the world’s leading mixed teams, but few expected them to defeat Korea on home soil at the Hyundai World Archery Championships in Gwangju last September.
Yet they did exactly that, securing Spain’s first-ever World Archery Championships gold medal. Temiño Mediel then carried that momentum into the individual competition, where he also claimed the recurve men’s world title.
Thursday’s performance showed that Gwangju was no fluke.
Kaufhold and Ellison have repeatedly shown they can deliver on the biggest stages, winning medals together at the Hyundai Archery World Cup, the Pan American Championships, the Pan American Games and the Olympic Games over recent years.
Canales and Temiño Mediel have been shooting together internationally for less than half that time, making victories over both the USA and Korea all the more impressive. They defeated the Americans 5-1 before edging Korea 39-38 in the deciding set of the quarterfinals – just one point shy of a perfect end.
Gwangju will always hold a special place in the history of Spanish archery, but after their first-round exit in Madrid last year, a home World Cup gold medal would provide another landmark moment.
That defeat still lingers in Temiño Mediel’s memory.
“What I remember from last year is that we shot quite well, but we lost by a very small margin. I think it was in the fourth set.”
“It annoyed me because, in the end, experiencing a final at home was something very special, but we didn’t manage it. This year we did,” said Temiño Mediel, who put six of his eight arrows against Italy into the 10-ring.
Canales returns to action in the individual eliminations on Friday, beginning in the recurve women’s 1/16 round. Temiño Mediel exited in the 1/24 round.
