PARIS – Eric Peters went from 64th to fifth in the world’s recurve archery rankings in just over a year.
But, the 27-year-old marksman of Kitchener, Ont. — who won a silver medal at last year’s world championships — won’t be rising up the Paris Olympics podium.
Peters was defeated 6-2 by Mauro Nespoli of Italy on Sunday in the men’s individual elimination round.
The 36-year-old Nespoli won individual silver at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and was a member of the Italian teams that won gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics and silver at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
He won Sunday’s first set 28-23, then tied the second (30-30) and third (28-28) sets, before winning the fourth 29-26 to clinch the showdown.
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“This is the biggest crowd that archery may have ever seen,” Peters said before facing Nespoli. “It’s incredible. It isn’t something we get to experience often in the sport, and just having this atmosphere, it’s something else.”
In July 2023, Peters travelled to Berlin and broke through to earn Canada’s highest finish of all-time at the World Archery Championships when he placed second. His world silver medal also secured Team Canada an Olympic qualification position for Paris.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2024.