The 18th Hyundai Archery World Cup Final brought the international outdoor season to a close on October 19–20, 2024, in the Mexican city of Tlaxcala de Xicohténcatl. A temporary competition stadium constructed beside the Palacio de Gobierno — the capital of the state of Tlaxcala — gave the event a spectacular setting, with hundreds of passionate Mexican fans packing the stands for what turned out to be a dramatic, memorable weekend. For the fifth time, Mexico hosted the World Cup season finale, and this edition delivered four champions whose 2024 stories could not have been more different in their paths to Tlaxcala.
Only 32 archers qualified for the event — eight per category — having earned their spots by winning one of the three World Cup stages (Shanghai, Yecheon and Antalya), by ranking high enough in the cumulative World Cup standings, or in the case of Kim Woojin and Lim Sihyeon, by winning the individual events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as Olympic wildcards. The most glaring absence was Brady Ellison (USA), who failed to qualify for the World Cup Final for the first time since his debut in 2010, having endured a below-par World Cup circuit season despite his extraordinary Olympic silver medal performance in Paris.
Competition Format
- Distance: 70 metres (recurve) and 50 metres (compound), outdoors.
- Format: Single-elimination bracket starting from the quarterfinals. Eight archers per category, three rounds to a championship (quarterfinal → semifinal → final).
- Recurve Matches: Set system — best of five sets, three arrows per set. Shoot-off at 5-5.
- Compound Matches: Cumulative scoring — five ends of three arrows, maximum 150 points. Shoot-off on a tie.
- Prize Money: CHF 30,000 per champion, with total prize pool distributed across all placings.
Compound Events — Saturday, October 19
Men's Compound — Lutz Shoots a Perfect Day
James Lutz (USA) arrived in Tlaxcala having already won the Indoor World Series title in Las Vegas earlier in the year, but the World Cup Final had always eluded him: in three previous appearances, he had never progressed beyond the first round. On Saturday in Tlaxcala, he remedied that in the most comprehensive fashion possible, dropping not a single point across his three matches — quarterfinal, semifinal and gold medal match — each resulting in a perfect 150.
His route to the final included eliminating world number one Mike Schloesser (Netherlands), the man who had beaten him in four of their four previous World Cup encounters. Schloesser, who had his wife and Dutch recurve archer Gaby Schloesser in his coaching box, was clinical himself — but when both men shoot perfectly, the shoot-off decides it, and Lutz prevailed. In the gold medal match, Lutz faced defending champion Mathias Fullerton (Denmark). World record holder Fullerton dropped a costly nine in his second shot — the kind of rare miss that compounds the pressure on a 15-arrow total — and Lutz capitalised, firing his 45th consecutive 10 of the day into the centre ring to win. It was also the weekend that Lutz, already the reigning Indoor World Series champion, could claim a remarkable double in the same calendar year.
"I don't even know how I feel now," Lutz told archery+ immediately after his victory. "I really took it one arrow at a time. I got sick the past couple of weeks so I feel weak, but I had to keep 100 per cent focused and I think that's why the scores were what they were." He also added: "I love this city, I'm super happy to be back here."
- 🥇 Gold: James Lutz (USA) — Three perfect scores of 150 across three matches. Forty-five consecutive 10s. A first World Cup Final title for the 2019 World Archery Champion, completing an Indoor World Series and World Cup Final double in the same calendar year — a remarkable feat in a season that will define his career.
- 🥈 Silver: Mathias Fullerton (Denmark) — The defending champion and world record holder was edged by one point in the final after a costly nine in his second shot handed Lutz the decisive advantage. A silver on the back of his Yecheon stage title, Fullerton remained one of the sport's elite compounders throughout 2024.
- 🥉 Bronze: Mike Schloesser (Netherlands) — The world number one recovered from his semifinal elimination by Lutz to win the bronze medal convincingly, defeating India's Prathamesh Fuge 150-146. It was Schloesser's second straight World Cup Final bronze medal, a frustrating pattern for the sport's dominant figure on the compound circuit.
Women's Compound — Sara Lopez Wins Her Ninth World Cup Title
There are few certainties in sport, but Sara Lopez winning at Tlaxcala comes close to one. The Colombian compound legend, who had already won the World Cup Final in the same Mexican city back in 2022, arrived in 2024 with eight titles to her name — and proceeded to claim her ninth in the most emotionally charged circumstances of her career.
Her path through the bracket was smooth in execution but built on moments of tremendous quality. She dispatched Alexis Ruiz (USA) 148-144 in the quarterfinal, then faced home favourite and world number one Andrea Becerra (Mexico) in the semifinal. Despite there being an extraordinarily loud, passionate atmosphere with two Mexicans in contention for the gold, Lopez shot a near-perfect semifinal score of 149 — one point below perfect — to eliminate Becerra 149-146. In the final, Lopez met Estonian Meeri-Marita Paas in her first World Cup Final appearance. Lopez ran out the winner, sealing her ninth title with the final arrow.
"I don't really know what happened with that last arrow," Lopez said. "I think I just shot it without even thinking. It was only when I heard Jean [her coach] calling the 10 that I knew it hit." Tears streamed down her face during the Colombian national anthem. She then made a significant personal announcement: "I will transition to indoor and I will start focusing on that more. To be honest I don't know if I'll get my 10th [World Cup]." The 2024 Tlaxcala title may prove to be Sara Lopez's final appearance at a World Cup Final as an outdoor competitor — a remarkable way to close a chapter.
- 🥇 Gold: Sara Lopez (Colombia) — Her ninth Hyundai Archery World Cup Final title. The greatest compound women's archer in history, possibly bowing out of the outdoor World Cup circuit in tears at the same venue where she won in 2022. Class — as Lopez herself has shown over 12 World Cup seasons — is permanent.
- 🥈 Silver: Meeri-Marita Paas (Estonia) — A debut World Cup Final, a silver medal, and a performance beyond all expectation for the young Estonian. An announcement of a talent who will only grow.
- 🥉 Bronze: Dafne Quintero (Mexico) — Bronze for the home crowd's second favourite, after Becerra's semifinal exit. A passionate reception from the Tlaxcala stands welcomed Mexico's individual podium result in front of their own fans.
Recurve Events — Sunday, October 20
Men's Recurve — Kim Woojin Adds a Fifth World Cup Crown
Olympic champion Kim Woojin arrived in Tlaxcala with his Paris 2024 performance — five gold medals across his career, a shoot-off win over Brady Ellison by 5 millimetres — still fresh in the global memory. His World Cup Final day was characteristically efficient if not always flawless: he dropped 27 and 28 in his first two ends of the quarterfinal against Thomas Chirault (France), winning despite never consistently finding his best. Against host pick Matias Grande (Mexico) in the semifinals, Kim dropped to 1-3 down, then fired a first 30 of the day in the third end, and Grande — pushing brilliantly before a raucous home crowd — shot two consecutive 28s to hand Kim the momentum he needed. In the gold medal match, Kim faced teammate Lee Woo Seok (Korea), the bronze medallist from the Paris individual event. It was an all-Korean final, which Kim won 7-3 in set points.
"First of all, I'm very happy," Kim said after the win. "I will try to win not only these five times, but many more in a row." He also added: "As I know Lee Woo Seok so well, I think it made the match even more thrilling and intense — it was fun." This was Kim's fifth World Cup Final title across 2012, 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2024 — equalling Brady Ellison's all-time record of five World Cup Final wins.
- 🥇 Gold: Kim Woojin (Republic of Korea) — His fifth World Cup Final title, equalling Brady Ellison's record. A year that included five Olympic gold medals, a Paris individual gold in a shoot-off decided by millimetres, and a World Cup Final crown to close 2024. The greatest year any individual archer has had in the modern era.
- 🥈 Silver: Lee Woo Seok (Republic of Korea) — An all-Korean final in the men's recurve, with Paris 2024 bronze medallist Lee running Kim close before falling 7-3. Another outstanding 2024 season for the Korean team's second-in-command.
- 🥉 Bronze: Thomas Chirault (France) — Bronze for the Paris 2024 men's team silver medallist, who had pushed Kim hard in the quarterfinal before bowing out. A strong result to cap a breakout season for the Frenchman on the individual stage.
Women's Recurve — Li Jiaman Claims Shock Gold
The recurve women's event delivered the biggest upset of the weekend. India's Deepika Kumari — a four-time Olympian who had been outstanding all season — swept through her quarterfinal against Yang Xiaolei (China) 6-0 and overcame Mexico's Alejandra Valencia 6-4 in the semifinal, setting up what many expected to be a memorable gold medal match. In the final, however, China's Li Jiaman — part of the Chinese women's team that won silver at Paris 2024 — was simply dominant, shutting out Kumari 6-0 in straight sets for one of the most emphatic individual gold medal match wins of the entire 2024 outdoor season.
- 🥇 Gold: Li Jiaman (China) — A flawless 6-0 gold medal match win over Deepika Kumari in the final. Li's Paris 2024 women's team silver had already announced her as one of the world's elite, and her Tlaxcala title confirmed it emphatically.
- 🥈 Silver: Deepika Kumari (India) — A silver medal for the experienced Indian, who had an outstanding tournament route to the final. Kumari's World Cup Final record continues to grow with a second career silver at the event.
- 🥉 Bronze: Alejandra Valencia (Mexico) — Bronze for the Mexican veteran on home soil, following her Paris 2024 women's team bronze. Valencia gave the Tlaxcala crowd a podium result to cheer for the home nation's women's individual programme.
Key Takeaways
- Kim Woojin's fifth World Cup Final title — matching Brady Ellison's all-time record — closed a 2024 season without parallel in the history of individual archery: three Paris Olympic golds plus a World Cup Final crown.
- James Lutz's perfect three-match day — 45 consecutive 10s, three scores of 150 — was the compound performance of the year and completed an extraordinary Indoor World Series / World Cup Final double for the American.
- Sara Lopez's ninth World Cup title, delivered with tears and a possible announcement of her final World Cup Final as an outdoor competitor, was the most emotionally resonant moment of the weekend.
- Li Jiaman's 6-0 final over Deepika Kumari in the recurve women's event was the biggest individual upset of the tournament and established the Chinese archer as a major force in women's recurve heading into the Los Angeles 2028 cycle.
- Mathias Fullerton remains one of compound archery's most consistent performers, claiming a second successive World Cup Final silver despite a near-perfect day that was undone by a single nine in the gold medal match.
- With the 2024 international archery season now complete, the focus turns to the 2024-25 Indoor Archery World Series, where the new season begins with stages in Taipei and beyond — and the question of whether Sara Lopez will indeed make her predicted transition indoors.