Dustin Watson is WAA’s Compound U21 Male Athlete of the Year
OTTAWA, ON – Archery Canada is pleased to announce that Dustin Watson of Ontario has been named World Archery Americas’ Compound U21 Male Athlete of the Year award, following a successful year that includes his World Champion title in the U21 men’s compound category at the 2022 World Archery Field Championships.
Dustin has had great results over the last two years. His first international competition was the 2021 World Archery Youth Championships in Wroclaw, Poland, where he finished 17th. As more and more archery came back after the pandemic, Dustin’s opportunity and subsequent results improved. His first event in 2022 was the Youth & Masters Pan Am Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Dustin finished 7th at this event, losing a very tight match in the quarterfinals against a fellow Canadian.
Dustin’s season wrapped up on a very high note. As the youngest male on the Canadian team heading to Yankton, South Dakota for the 2022 World Archery Field Championships, he qualified 6th on the first day of competition. He then continued to dominate the next three rounds, carrying on to the final match against Slovenian Tim Jevsnik. The match was incredibly close, ending in a tiebreaker where Dustin was able to shoot strong and bring home the gold medal and the World Champion title.
“I am very proud of Dustin for all the hard work he has done,” Sean McKenty, Compound and Field Coordinator, commented after hearing the news. “I started working with Dustin early last year to get him ready for World Fields and Youth Championships and could easily see his work ethic and family support were going to serve him well. Dustin was able to keep his composure throughout the tournament winning both one arrow shoot offs in the semifinals and finals as well as showing his true sportsmanship on the international stage. It was a pleasure to witness. I look forward to his next adventure in archery.”
This young and up-and-coming athlete has also been named to the 2023 National Compound Squad, so there will be lots more opportunities to see what he’s able to do.
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For more information, please contact:
Zoe Meil, Communications & Safe Sport Coordinator
(613) 260-2113 ext. 3