MEXICO CITY — While much of the country has been focused on Mexico’s run in the World Cup, another group of Mexican athletes has been quietly making history on the international stage.
Four Mexican archers are now listed among the world’s top competitors in their respective divisions by World Archery, underscoring Mexico’s growing strength in a sport that has delivered Olympic medals, world titles, and rising expectations ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
Leading the group is Andrea Maya Becerra, currently one of the biggest names in international compound archery. Becerra is ranked No. 1 in women’s compound after a remarkable stretch that included becoming Mexico’s first individual World Archery Champion. She won the women’s compound title at the 2025 World Archery Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, defeating Sofía Paiz of El Salvador in the final.
Her rise has been years in the making. Becerra had previously earned major international medals, including world championship podium finishes, before finally taking the top individual title. World Archery described her 2025 season as one of the strongest in recent memory for the compound women’s division.
Mexico is also well represented in recurve, the Olympic discipline of the sport. Matías Grande, who represented Mexico at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, has climbed to No. 3 in the men’s recurve world ranking, according to World Archery’s athlete profile. His rise adds to a strong period for Mexico’s men’s team, which continues building toward the next Olympic cycle.
On the women’s recurve side, Ana Paula Vázquez has also moved into elite company. The Coahuila archer, part of Mexico’s bronze-medal women’s team at the Paris 2024 Olympics, has recently reached the highest ranking range of her career. World Archery highlighted her comeback after shoulder surgery, noting that she rebuilt her technique and returned to the international circuit with strong results in 2026.
In compound men, Sebastián García Flores is also listed among the world’s top archers, ranked No. 4 by World Archery. García has been one of Mexico’s most consistent compound athletes and was part of Mexico’s medal-winning compound men’s team at the 2026 Archery World Cup opener in Puebla.
That Puebla event was an important marker for the national team. Mexico won three bronze medals there, including in women’s recurve team, women’s compound team, and men’s compound team. Reuters reported that the results were viewed as an encouraging start to the season, with Mexican archery officials pointing directly toward the goal of qualifying strongly for Los Angeles 2028.
The timing is important. Compound archery, long absent from the Olympic program, will make its Olympic debut in Los Angeles in the mixed team event. That gives athletes like Becerra and García an even larger stage, while recurve archers such as Grande and Vázquez continue Mexico’s Olympic tradition in the sport.
Mexico’s recent archery success did not happen overnight. The country has built momentum through athletes such as Alejandra Valencia, Aída Román, Mariana Avitia, Ana Paula Vázquez, and the current generation now pushing into the top of the world rankings.
For casual fans, the rankings may come as a surprise. For people following the sport, they confirm what has been clear for some time: Mexico is no longer an occasional contender in archery. It is becoming one of the countries to watch.
