It was a good week for Canada’s athletes in Lac La Biche.
Canadian mixed and men’s archery teams brought home bronze medals during the team finals of the 2024 World Archery Field Championships, which ran from September 16-22.
In the medal-round finals on Saturday and Sunday, where athletes shot at targets set up at the Lac La Biche golf course, a Compound U21 mixed team comprised of Anya Pinel and Dustin Watson defeated Romania. This was followed by a men’s contest near noon in which Canadian archers Andrew Fagan, Brian Maxwell, and Jovica Djukic shut out a Swedish men’s archery team consisting of Marcus Axelsson, Jacob Benschjold, and Kai Sjoberg.
For Pinel and Watson, both of whom live in Ontario, going up against Romanian archers Andreea Albu and Rares Daniel Alexandrescu in the four-set match was a considerable challenge, though one they were able to overcome to clear a path to victory.
“This competition, I felt it tough at the beginning, but then we just fell in place,” Pinel told Lakeland This Week.
The Saturday morning archery contest between Canada and Romania was not the 15-year-old competitive archer’s first international event.
Earlier this year, Pinel competed in the Pan American Pan American Youth and Master Championship in El Salvador with Team Canada, coming in third in the mixed team category and finishing in fifth place individually.
Like his teammate, the 2024 World Archery Field Championships were also not Watson’s first time shooting in an international competition. Two years ago, he travelled to Yankton, South Dakota to compete in the World Archery Field Championships, finishing in sixth place in the Compound U21 men category. Watson has also been to the 2021 World Archery Youth Championships in Wroclaw, Poland, as well as two Pan American championships.
Winning a bronze medal in the match against Romania, Watson said, was an amazing experience and a team effort.
“It was awesome…. we shot great as a team,” he stated.
More medals
A couple of hours after this match, Fagan, Maxwell and Djukic faced off against Sweden, clinching another bronze medal for Canada.
For Fagan, who lives near Coburg, Ontario, and works as a chiropractor when he isn’t shooting competitive archery, bringing home a bronze medal is a great feeling.
“We’ve been working hard this year, and came here wanting some hardware, and we got it,” he said.
The men’s team, Fagan continued, had its sights on bringing home the gold. However, those hopes were dashed when the Canadians lost in a shoot-off against Slovenia in the elimination rounds, which took place on Thursday and Friday.
Fagan said since members of the Canadian archery team live in different parts of the country-and therefore, getting everyone together to practice isn’t the easiest endeavour-during the road to the 2024 World Archery Field Championships, they mostly trained individually.
He explained that when the members did meet up at the world event, they spent time together to discuss various matters, including the team’s rotation in the tournament.
“We talk about it all beforehand, but it came together quite well,” he said.
Vancouver resident Brian Maxwell was also quite happy with the Canadian archery team’s win against Sweden. He added that in bronze medal matches, competitors either win a medal or go home empty handed.
“Great to get the world medal,” he said with a proud smile.
The member of Team Canada has been involved with competitive archery for roughly a decade, and says that time has been an amazing journey of self-development for him. When wanting to become proficient at archery, as with any other sport, he explained, people have to dig deep, learn more about themselves, and strive to continually improve in all aspects of their lives.
“It’s such an avenue for improvement…love it,” he said.
Minutes after the Canadian team’s win against Sweden, Djukic stood on the greens smiling ecstatically.
“I don’t know what words to use…it’s just phenomenal feeling,” Djukic, who lives in Battleford, Saskatchewan, said, adding that his team worked very hard for their victory, and was rewarded.
Going into the 2024 World Archery Field Championships, Djukic says he felt confident in his skills abilities and those of his teammates, and therefore, believed that the team would win a medal.
When asked what his plans were going forward after the Worlds, Djukic said he intends to relax for a short period and allow the emotions from the win to settle before getting ready for the upcoming indoor archery season.