The Mexican archer has always been a cheerful, smiley character off the shooting line, but timid and quiet too – a combination that led to painful near-misses, particularly last year.
A 2019 Summer Universiade gold medallist, she also had the frustrating label of “compound women nearly-archer,” earning silver at the Pan American Games that same year, then bronze at Yankton 2021 Hyundai World Archery Championships and two Hyundai Archery World Cup silvers in 2024 (Yecheon and Shanghai), on top of the Berlin runner-up finish.
Her quality was never in doubt, only her mental mettle in crunch situations.
After so many stage final runs, it all came together in the World Cup opener at Central Florida earlier this year, where she finally won a final in a shoot-off.
That breakthrough turned Becerra into a mean, green, winning machine
In the past five months, she has knocked Great Britain’s Ella Gibson off the number one spot, become the only woman to win two World Cups in 2025 (in Florida and Antalya), grabbed gold at the Chengdu 2025 World Games – and now the biggest individual prize in her discipline.
“I really wanted it,” she added when asked about what has changed since her last world championship outing. “A bronze in Yankton, a silver in Berlin. It was a lot of mental but hard work.”
There is no question: Andrea Becerra is the archer to beat in compound women. Should she win again at the Nanjing 2025 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final next month, it would cap one of the greatest outdoor seasons we have ever seen.
For the next two years at least, she can call herself the reigning World Archery Champion, with compound action now officially over at 5.18 Democracy Square.
For the bronze medal, Alejandra Usquiano of Colombia edged out Parneet Kaur of India in a tight contest, winning 145-144.
Recurve team finals take place tomorrow afternoon and can be watched live with a subscription to archery+.
