Casey Kaufhold and Brady Ellison earn bronze medal in Olympic archery mixed team competition

• By Kyle Morgan/LNP | LancasterOnline

Less than 24 hours after her run in the women’s individual archery tournament ended at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Casey Kaufhold was left to pick herself up and go for her last chance at Olympic glory.

Teaming with Brady Ellison, a three-time Olympic medalist and former world No. 1 archer who is still alive in the men’s individual tourney, for the mixed team competition Friday, the Lancaster County native looked to gain some measure of redemption for the U.S.

She was able to achieve that. Kaufhold and Ellison made their way through a competitive bracket and wound up winning the bronze-medal match 6-2 over India.

It was Kaufhold’s first career Olympic medal; she became the first American woman to make the medal stand in archery since 1988.

The pair first faced the Uzbekistan duo of Ziyodakhon Abdusattorova and Amirkhon Sadikov, sweeping to a 6-0 victory.

Kaufhold and Ellison dominated the first set, posting a 10 and a 9 each on the way to a 38-34 win. The second set was tighter by virtue of two 10s from the Uzebkistan shooters on their second shots, but Kaufhold’s 10-and-9 combo plus two 9s from Ellison was enough to get them a 37-36 nod.

The third set seemed destined to go to Uzbekistan, which opened with three 10s. Kaufhold had a 10 and a 9, with Ellison adding a 9 as well.

But on the final shot, Abdusattorova wound up hitting a 7, opening the door for Ellison to hit a 10 and clinch a 38-37 win and a quarterfinal berth.

Kaufhold and Ellison then faced Junya Nakanishi and Satsuki Noda from Japan, who snuck by Turkey 5-4 in their opening match. The U.S. took the opening set 38-36, with Kaufhold and Ellison contributing a 10 and a 9 each.

Japan responded with an outstanding second set, nailing four 10s in a row to win 40-36. But Kaufhold came up big in the third with a pair of 10s, boosting the U.S. to a 39-37 win.

Trailing after the first round of shooting in the fourth, Kaufhold and Ellison needed at least a 10 and a 9 to tie the set and clinch the match. Ellison came through with the 10, and Kaufhold followed with a clutch 9, equaling the score at 37-37 and giving the U.S. a 5-3 victory.

That advanced them to the semifinals against Germany’s Michelle Kroppen and Florian Unruh. Ellison picked up two 10s in the first set, and Kaufhold nailed one of her own on the last shot for a 39-38 win.

The two stayed hot in the second, opening with back-to-back 10s. But Kroppen and Unruh both hit 10s on their second series, and a 9-8 combo from the U.S. gave the Germans a 38-37 win.

Both sides were essentially even in the third set, eventually tying 37-37 to go to a potential winner-take-all fourth. There, the Germans opened with a pair of 10s, while Kaufhold and Ellison only notched 8s. Kroppen and Unruh clinched the match with a 9 and a 10 from there, winning 39-34 for the 5-3 victory and advancing to the final against South Korea.

That sent Kaufhold and Elllison to the bronze-medal match against Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara of India. The U.S. duo turned in a 10 and a 9 each to take the first set 38-37, as an opening 7 from Bhakat derailed three 10s in a row for India.

Bhakat again shot a 7 to start the second, and two 10s from Ellison was enough to push the U.S. to a 37-35 win. India rebounded in the third, putting up a 10 and a 9 each for a 38-33 victory.

In the end, some slip-ups for India in the fourth set opened the door for Kaufhold and Ellison to clinch the match and the medal. They both shot 9s, with Kaufhold getting the emphatic final shot for the 37-35 win and a 6-2 victory.

“He is my rock,” Kaufhold said of Ellison. “Any nerves I had, he talked me through every single moment. I couldn’t ask for a better mixed team partner. He’s brought so much wisdom into my archery. I can’t thank him enough for everything.”

Kaufhold entered the Games ranked No. 1 in the world in the individual category but failed to reach the semifinals, but she said things turned out the way they did for a reason.

“When I walked off the stage yesterday feeling like I didn’t perform to my fullest potential, I felt that there was still a place for me to do it here,” she said. “I woke up today and felt like today’s the day for a medal.”