Marie Horackova became the first Czech archer to win an Archery World Cup Final, defeating Germany’s Katharina Bauer 6‑2 on her debut at the 2026 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in Saltillo, Mexico.
Two Mexican hosts, one decisive path
Horackova cleared a path through the host nation’s best. She beat Ana Paula Vázquez 6‑4 in the quarter‑finals, then swept Olympic medallist Alejandra Valencia 6‑0 in the last four. The Plaza de Armas was sold out, the stands loud under the gaze of the Cathedral of Santiago.
A brief electrical‑storm warning paused the semi‑finals for half an hour. When shooting resumed, Horackova held her nerve and closed the final in four controlled sets.
A first sealed in Madrid
Horackova earned her Saltillo place by winning a World Cup stage in Madrid in July. That result had already made her the first Czech female archer to claim a World Cup event. Together with her 2023 world championship title in Berlin, it lifted her to a career‑high world ranking of fourth.
“I was very focused, it was a good duel against Katharina, I had to work very hard to win,” she told reporters afterwards.
A quiet arrival at the top
World Archery recognised the Final as its event of the year. Horackova received the trophy as a 28‑year‑old whose steady climb — from a 17th‑place worlds finish in 2021, through a 2023 world crown, to this Saltillo breakthrough — gave Czech archery a record no one else holds.
