Italy dominated the 2026 edition of the European Indoor Archery Championships, taking 21 medals in total across senior and under-21 categories in recurve, compound and barebow, in a competition that held mixed team events for the very first time.
The nation has always been a major force in this competition and particularly excelled in the team events, taking gold in compound mixed team, barebow mixed team, compound women’s team, and both men’s and women’s barebow team events – although they lost the recurve men’s final to Israel, who also won the recurve mixed team.
The individual events, however, proved to be a much more open competition. In compound men, Michea Godano, the 24-year-old Italian who was European field champion in 2021 took his first international target title, beating Nicolas Girard of France in a shoot-off.
The recurve men’s title match was an all-Ukrainian affair with Mykhailo Usach edging out his much more experienced teammate, Olympian Oleksii Hunbin, in a shoot-off. The recurve women’s title went to neutral athlete Nurinisso Makhmudova who beat favourite and top seed Roberta Di Francesco, 6-4 in a high-quality gold medal match.
In barebow, the favourite Cinzia Noziglia lost the final to her 16-year-old Italian teammate Linda Grezzani, who grabbed a first senior title after winning the under-21 category at last year’s European Championships. It means that Noziglia, the ‘queen of barebow’ is now without a major international win since her 3D world title in Mokrice in 2024. Neutral athlete Vitalii Budiak beat France’s David Jackson for the men’s barebow gold.
Indeed, the only top seed to take a senior title was Sofie Louise Dam Marcussen of Denmark, who thrashed Amanda Mlinaric of Croatia 148-144.
The competition was notable for including mixed team competition for the very first time in six senior categories, expanding the opportunities for medals. It showcased the deep talent across the various divisions, in a year in which many participants – especially barebows – are already looking towards the World 3D and World Field Championships in the USA this autumn.
