‘Armless Archer’ Matt Stutzman makes history in gold medal win for USA at Paris Paralympics

PARIS (Gray News) - An American archer born without arms is making history in this year’s Paralympic Games.

Team USA’s Matt Stutzman made all of his shots count by winning gold in the Para archery men’s individual compound open event.

The “Armless Archer,” as he has become known, set a new Paralympic record in scoring 149 points out of the maximum 150 points available and defeated China’s Ai Xinliang, the bronze medalist from Tokyo 2020, in the 5-end final.

Both archers swapped perfect 30-point ends and were tied after the first end before Stutzman increased his lead and held off his opponent to win the event by 2 points.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet, to be honest,” Stutzman said. “I knew going into this it was going to be my last Games, so there’s a lot of emotion, and I didn’t expect this medal.”

The 41-year-old delivered clutch performances throughout the Paralympic Games, including shooting a perfect shot to advance over Finland’s Jere Forsberg.

Stutzman uses his legs and feet for most of his activities, including archery. His gold medal performance comes 12 years after winning his first medal, silver, at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.