USA's Casey Kaufhold in firm contention for an Olympics medal after top-5 finish in archery ranking rounds at Paris 2024

American archer Casey Kaufhold has had a strong start at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the women's individual ranking rounds. The 20-year-old finished with a score of 672 out of a possible 720, placing her fourth on the standings.

Kaufhold comes into these Games as Team USA's brightest hope for a medal finish in the women's individual and team events. The youngster made her Olympic debut three years ago at the Tokyo Games where she set a new under-21 world record of 682 points while competing in the ranking rounds.

Two months after her performance at the Tokyo Games, Kaufhold went on to clinch silver at the 2021 World Archery Championships on home ground, beating reigning Olympic champion An San in the semifinals. Over the next two years, the American claimed three golds and two silvers at the archery World Cup, two golds and a bronze at the Pan American Games, and five medals at the Pan American Championships.

After the ranking rounds at the Paris Olympics, Casey Kaufhold is behind South Koreans Lim Sihyeon (who scored a world record of 694) and Nam Suhyeon and China's Yang Xiaolei.

Kaufhold’s compatriots Catalina Gnoriega and Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez didn't fare quite so well. Gnoriega finished 38th with a season best score of 648, while Mucino-Fernandez is 57th with 625. This places the USA eighth on the women's team standings based on an aggregate of the team's three archers’ scores.

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2024 Paris Olympics Archery: When will Casey Kaufhold compete next?

Casey Kaufhold has some time off for now and will be back in action at Les Invalides after nearly a week. On August 1, the American will take on Guinea’s 22-year-old Sylla Fatoumata for her round of 32 elimination match. Fatoumata finished 61st in the individual ranking rounds.

Kaufhold and Fatoumata will battle each other in a best-of-five-sets match where each set will consist of three arrows. The winner of a set will receive 2 points, while a tie will see both archers win a point each.

Meanwhile, Casey Kaufhold's compatriot Catalina Gnoriega will play her round of 32 match on July 30, while Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez will be in action on August 1 a little over an hour before Kaufhold.