Lac la Biche, AB – For the past week, over 240 of the world’s top archers shot Field archery in Lac La Biche for the 2024 World Archery Field Championships. Canada fielded its largest team ever for this year’s World Championships and has finished the week with a third medal. Ontario archer, Amelia Gagné won the silver medal today in the U21 Recurve Women against Italy’s Lucia Mosna.

“I am really happy with how I shot today, although I do have some things to figure out for next time,” was Amelia’s reaction after the day of competition had concluded. “My opponent shot amazing, and the venue was just gorgeous. I’m super excited for the next one, especially if it is anything like this one!”

This prestigious event has been a focal point of the small northeastern community of Lac la Biche, and the second time the community has hosted an archery World Championships, having previously hosted the 2019 World Archery 3D Championships. For Canada’s archery community this represented a unique opportunity to compete in the discipline of Field Archery in an international event on home soil. It helped to encourage more participation in this disciple of the sport.

Reflecting on the week, Team coach, Sean McKenty noted “I knew if we could field a larger team we would do very well. This was the first time ever we fielded a complete men’s and women’s team. And we walked away with a men’s bronze after taking out the top team USA, our women’s team fought well to gain solid experience for next time, and our bronze medal winning U21 Mixed Team was a solid contender with their domination of Romania. I feel this will bring great dividends for any future teams.”

Canada can hope that this will be the case, and a similar team can come together when the Championships are held again in 2026, although the location has not yet been announced.

As the Championships end, the organizers would like to extend their sincere thanks to the host club, Lakeland Archers, the major funding partners, the Government of Alberta, Lac La Biche County, and the many volunteers who have made this event possible.

Complete results are available here.