Andre Shelby shoots during the compound men open final at the 2017 World Archery Para Championships on Sept. 17, 2017 in Beijing.
Reigning Paralympic champion and U.S. Navy veteran Andre Shelby won a pair of medals on Sunday to close out the 2017 World Archery Para Championships in Beijing.
Shelby, 50, brought home the silver medal in the men’s compound open division, and added a bronze medal in the team compound division on a squad that included individual bronze medalist Ben Thompson and Lance Thornton.
Shelby, of Jacksonville, Florida, lost to China’s Ai Xinliang by one arrow, 142-141, in the gold-medal match of the men’s compound open event.
“It’s simple, he outshot me,” said Shelby, who is also a competitive handcyclist. “He’s a great competitor. I didn’t shoot against him in Rio, thank God."
Shelby defeated defending world champion Alberto Simonelli of Italy, 147-142, in the semifinals after knocking off Great Britain’s Paralympic silver medalist John Stubbs, 146-144, in the quarterfinals.
Shelby previously won gold medals at the 2015 World Archery Para Championships, 2015 Parapan American Games and 2016 Parapan American Championships in the team and individual competitions. In Rio, he pulled off one of the biggest upsets, climbing from a 12th seed to claim individual gold with just three years of competitive archery under his belt.
The U.S. men’s compound open team of Shelby, Thompson and Thornton added a bronze medal with a 228-223 win over Russia.
The American compound team lost to Iran, 229-223, in the semifinals to drop into the bronze-medal match. Team USA defeated Canada, 232-219, in the opening round, and Japan, 222-219, in the quarterfinals.
Thompson previously earned a bronze medal in the compound men’s open with a 146-144 win over Simonelli on Friday, giving Team USA two straight wins over the defending world champion.
The U.S. squad ended the World Archery Para Championships with five medals in all, including Jeff Fabry’s gold medal in the W1 recurve open men’s competition on Saturday and a silver in men’s team recurve from Kevin Mather, Michael Lukow and Timothy Palumbo.
Gary R. Blockus is a journalist from Allentown, Pennsylvania who has covered multiple Olympic Games. He is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
