The intensity of mixed team At any international event, where individual skill is already at a high level, mixed team competition brings added complexity, with all the other controllable and sometimes uncontrollable variables that come with team matches. The pressure is immense, as mistakes are twice as costly and affect not just the individual but […]
The intensity of mixed team
At any international event, where individual skill is already at a high level, mixed team competition brings added complexity, with all the other controllable and sometimes uncontrollable variables that come with team matches. The pressure is immense, as mistakes are twice as costly and affect not just the individual but also the team.This expectation weighs upon the shoulders of all archers during a mixed team match including Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Alejandra Valencia, who reached the quarterfinals of Paris alongside Mexico’s 20-year-old Matias Grande and highlighted the challenge.“There is more pressure on your shots as you now make up 50 per cent of the total score,” said compound mixed team Paralympic gold medallist Jodie Grinham. “So, it’s a lot harder to come back from bad shots, and you don’t get as much time in between to reset yourself.”The pressure of time and accuracy makes it one of the most mentally and physically demanding events. Shoot a poor shot and you have just mere seconds to get over it.First off, mixed team archery is far quicker than the traditional men’s and women’s team events. With only 80 seconds to spare per team per set, it creates a fast paced environment, leaving little room for error.Quite often, mixed teams often consist of a country’s top two archers, with Ellison and Kaufhold certainly leading the light for their respective genders in the USA, winning six major international tournaments in the past year combined.“I think that the hardest part is that it’s just two arrows,” said Valencia, who also claimed a mixed team silver at the Pan American Championships and gold in Yecheon in 2024, both with Grande. “Anybody can shoot two great arrows, and if you are talking about the best of the country, it’s a guarantee that they will shoot the best.”“The hardest thing probably is just the aspect of the difference in men and women, and what emotions somebody needs at that time can be a lot more different than all men’s team and all women’s teams,” explained the recently crowned Indoor World Series Champion.Five-time Olympian Ellison described the mixed team as the most difficult event due to constant adaptation of mind and added emotional dynamics between male and female archers.“There’s no room for mistakes.”
