A Golden Win for Mexico’s Miguel Becerra
A Golden Win for Mexico’s Miguel Becerra. The athlete of the day goes to Mexico’s Miguel Becerra in the World Games 2022 held in Birmingham, USA.
In the field of archery, he defeated John Philippe Boulch of France in the Compound men’s final by a single point. He won a Gold medal against him with a score of 147-146.
He accepted his medal with tears in his eyes reflecting his hard work that paid off in the finals. His win represents the first gold medal for Mexico in the 11th edition of the World Games.
“I am speechless,” said a Becerra with his eyes full of tears, clearly overcome with emotion. “There was a lot of work behind that medal. It’s the best day of my life. I was shaking a lot but I knew I had to do the same work that I did in all the competitions.”
Both finalists were making their debut appearances in the World Games and had been seeded as fourth and sixth respectively. Boulch shot a season-best 710 and Becerra shot a career-best 708.
After making the final fours following an extended elimination session a day before due to extreme weather, both won their semifinals by two points each. Boulch defeated Abhishek Verma (143-141) and Becerra led after his second end against Perkins (147-145).
“If you said a week ago I would finish second, I would say ‘yes’. Now it’s ‘no’,” Boulch remarked after the final when he was asked if he was satisfied with silver.
“I was feeling good but I shot one nine more than Miguel. That is a silver medal. It is still good. I made a little mistake. It is my fault.” He explained.
Becerra also participated in Team Compound Archery. He and his partner, Andrea Becerra were defeated by India in the bronze medal competition.
It was an emotional day for Becerra. It was no surprise that he earned the Athlete of the Day Award owing to his hard work on the second competition day.
Final ranking: Compound men’s championship
- Miguel Becerra from Mexico
- Jean Philippe Boulch from France
- Christopher Perkins from Canada