The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

TOP Bahamian archer LeRon Rolle has steadily ascended to new heights in archery and continues to make a name for himself locally and abroad.

Rolle finished with a bronze medal at the 2024 World Archery Ranking Event in Iguazu, Argentina, which ran from September 3-7. He came third in the under 21 men’s compound division with a total score of 662. 

Rafael Magalhâes Moreira, of Brazil, captured the gold with a best score of 697 and Joseph Gonzàlez Agüero, of Costa Rica, took home silver with a score of 674.

Rolle was happy to leave with a bronze medal and felt he could have shot better ahead of the gold-medal match.

“It feels good knowing that I at least got a medal but I feel as if I could’ve shot better heading into the gold-medal match. First and second place shot a tied score of 141 and in the bronze medal match I shot a 140,” he said. The top ranked archer got his bronze medal campaign started against Valentin Zahrebelnyj of the British Virgin Islands. He defeated his opponent in the quarterfinals 143 to 129.

Rolle advanced to the semis to face Gonzàlez Agüero but he came up short 141 to 139.

He then played in the bronze medal match against the host country’s Luengo Saavedra Agustin and won 140 to 125.

It is not the first time the St John’s College graduate has seen this type of success at this level. He stood tall on the third podium spot back in March at the 2024 South American Championships in Marica, Brazil where he placed third in the same division. Additionally, he was the first Bahamian to accomplish this feat. 

Although he is ranked among the best in the country, his goal is to take it a step further. “Even though I am the best in the country, I am also the number one archer in the English-speaking Caribbean but my goal is to be number one in the world one day,” he said.

The bronze medallist got his start in archery during the COVID-19 pandemic due to restrictions that prevented him from playing traditional sports.

He made his debut in archery at the Summer Classics archery tournament where he earned a silver medal for his efforts. Since then, his archery career has been filled with national records, personal bests and medals on the local and international stage.

When he asked what he would say to those that have an interest in archery but have not started yet, here was his response.

“To the people who have never tried archery, I would say to give it a shot, you never know where it will take you. I’d never imagined that I would be traveling the world doing archery but here I am. That’s why I created my own club to expose as many people to the sport as possible. My club is only a year old and so far we have exposed over 300 people to the sport. We also have an archer who is visually impaired, totally blind and another who is an amputee,” he said. 

The junior archer is now eyeing indoor world series competitions.

Senior archer Dario Higgs also represented The Bahamas in the men’s recurve 50 plus division. He ended the competition ranked ninth but got a personal best and national record of 526. 

Higgs won the opening round of competition 6-0 against Argentina’s Carlos Sanchez Terrero. However, he fell to Argentina’s Ruben Lenarduzzi 0-6 in the second round of competition.