Turkish archer Mete Gazoz on Saturday won the Olympic men’s individual archery final at the 2020 Tokyo Games, securing Turkey’s first gold medal and his biggest career success, the state-run Anadolu agency reported.
On the eighth day of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Gazoz, 22, faced Italian 2012 team champion Mauro Nespoli in the final, winning the match 6-4.
Previously, the Turkish archer faced Japan’s Takaharu Furukawa and won the semifinal match 7-3 to reach the final.
The silver medal went to Nespoli while Furukawa claimed bronze.
Gazoz had advanced to the last 16 after defeating Luxembourg’s Jeff Henckels in the first-round match held on Thursday at the Yumenoshima Archery Field, and Australian Ryan Tyack in the second-round match.
The national archer had advanced to the quarterfinals after beating Australian Taylor Worth in the round of 16 in the morning session. He eliminated Brady Ellison of the United States, who is ranked number 1 in the world rankings, to book his spot in the semifinals.
Gazoz has two individual Archery World Cup championships, one gold medal in men’s recurve at the Mediterranean Games and two gold medals in individual at European Youth Championships.