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.
Great Britain’s Grinham, gold medallist in the mixed team event at Paris 2024, finished as third seed with 682.
“I’m doing really well,” she said. “I thought I might be a bit disappointed with my score. I’m not used to this sort of heat and how the wind behaves – it’s very unpredictable – so I’m actually really happy with how it went.”
Grinham, who became the world’s first pregnant Paralympic gold medallist last summer, was characteristically keen.
“I would like to medal in everything, but I’m just coming back from having a baby. I’m here to see where I am against the rest of the world and push myself fully.”
Elisabetta Mijno, highlighted in World Archery’s crystal ball predictions, topped the recurve women’s list with 641, just ahead of Paralympic Champion Wu Chunyan on 639. Both were well clear of the rest of the field, with China’s Wang Xueqian in third place on 609.
Another Chinese archer, the experienced Zhao Lixue, led the recurve men’s rankings with 658, with Paralympic Champion Harvinder Singh in fourth on 645. Zhao, who won the Asian Para Championships earlier this year, has a string of international medals spanning a decade.
“The atmosphere of the event is really cool,” he said. “I felt confident and strong today and it payed off.”
China also topped the W1 women’s qualification, with 18-year-old Wang Liya – competing in her first international event – leading on 656 ahead of Sarka Pultar Musilova with 653.
The competition continues tomorrow with further qualifications and eliminations.
