Ana Luiza Caetano, 21, from Rio de Janeiro, said goodbye to the Paris Olympic Games in the round of 16 of archery. She equaled the best result ever achieved by a Brazilian in the Olympic tournament, repeating the performance of Ane Marcelle dos Santos in the Rio edition in 2016.
After advancing with two victories in the preliminary rounds played last Tuesday (30), Ana Luiza was looking for an unprecedented place in the quarterfinals. Her opponent was Frenchwoman Lisa Barbelin, number 11 in the ranking world championship. Ana even managed to perform well against the home athlete and won one of the sets, but ended up losing in the final score by 6 to 2. The partials in the sets were tight: 28/25, 26/27, 28/27 and 28/27.
“I’m frustrated. It was very close, all the sets were very close. It took me a while to adapt to the wind, but I managed to adjust and get into the spirit of the competition, even with the crowd against me. I’m happy with my game, not with the result. I had a close game, which shows how much Brazil is growing and is respected in the sport. It’s a step forward,” said Ana Luiza in an interview with the Brazilian Olympic Committee.
On Friday (2), the archer from Rio de Janeiro had already been eliminated in the round of 16 of the mixed team tournament, when she competed alongside Marcus D’Almeida. They were defeated by the Mexican team. The gold in the mixed tournament went to South Korea, the silver went to Germany and the United States duo won the bronze.
Marcus D’Almeida plays in the round of 16
On Sunday (4), starting at 5:09 am, Brasília time, it will be Marcus D’Almeida’s turn to fight for a place in the quarterfinals. The current world number one will have a tough duel ahead against South Korean Kim Woojin, current Olympic champion in the individual and who yesterday took gold in the mixed teams. Woojin was the athlete with the best ranking at the start of the competitions at the Paris Games. Marcus is trying to surpass the best result he has ever achieved in the Olympics. In the Tokyo edition, in 2021, he was eliminated in the round of 16.
