Great Britain’s Jodie Grinham, gold mixed team medallist at Paris 2024, finished as third seed with 682. “I’m doing really well. I thought I’d be a bit disappointed with the score. I’m not used to shooting in this sort of heat, and also how the wind affects it, but it’s very ‘flippy‘, so I’m actually really happy with how it went,” she said.
Grinham, who became the world’s first pregnant Paralympic gold medallist last summer, was characteristically keen. “I would like to medal in everything, but to be honest, I’m coming back from having a baby. I’m just here to see where I’m at against the rest of the world, to be able to push myself fully.”
Elisabetta Mijno, picked out in World Archery’s crystal ball predictions, topped the recurve women’s list with 641, just ahead of Paralympic champion Wu Chunyan with 639. Both were well ahead of the rest of the field, with the third placed athlete, China’s Wang Xueqian, 30 points behind with 609.
Another Chinese athlete, the experienced Zhao Lixue finished in pole position in recurve men with 658, with Paralympic champion Harvinder Singh in fourth spot with 645. Zhao, who won the Asian Para championships this year, has a string of international medals going back a decade.
China also were in pole on the women’s W1 list, with 18-year-old Wang Liya finishing on 656 ahead of Sarka Pultar Musilova with 653.
The competition continues with qualifications and mixed team eliminations tomorrow.
