Marie Horackova said she did not expect a quiet leaderboard. She arrived at the 2026 European Outdoor Championships in Antalya expecting the recurve women's scores to push higher than they did. Instead, the 2023 world champion sits at the top of the qualifying standings with a 672, six points clear of Spain's Elia Canales — and a little perplexed.
"I'm a bit surprised that the other scores weren't that high," Horackova said after the ranking round. "I expected higher results this tournament, but I'm super happy I managed to rank first."
The Czech recurve archer's win at the 2023 world championships in Berlin announced her as a major senior contender, but recent seasons have produced more mixed results as Europe's senior recurve women's field has tightened with new talent from Spain, Great Britain and Italy. Horackova's qualifying win on home turf for Spain and France, with familiar challengers in the top five, suggests her form is back where she wants it heading into match play.
She was also honest about the early holes in her round.
"The first half I wasn't as good as I expected to be, but I managed and pushed myself to do better," she said.
Behind her, Spain dominated the women's team standings, with Paula Álvarez González in third overall on 665. Great Britain surprised many by edging into second in the women's team rankings. Both finishes carry meaningful seeding implications when the team eliminations begin.
The men's recurve field belongs, at least on day one, to France. Baptiste Addis fired 688 to lead, while reigning home favourite Mete Gazoz of Türkiye and Germany's Moritz Wieser tied for second on 684 each. Addis's recurve form has been notable across the spring Hyundai World Cup season, but a European Championships qualifying win on Mediterranean lines is the sort of statement that builds seeding through the matches.
In the compound divisions, Denmark and the Netherlands continued to share top billing. Mathias Fullerton of Denmark matched the European record with 718 to lead the compound men, ahead of the Dutch eight-time European medallist Mike Schloesser on 716 and France's reigning world champion Nicolas Girard on 712.
Fullerton, whose 2026 has been a steady climb back toward the front of the rankings after a difficult 2025, kept his expectations grounded.
"For me, I think I can achieve a fun trip and shoot some good scores," he said.
The compound women is currently led by Türkiye's Hazal Burun on 706 with 31 inner-tens — with British compound powerhouse Ella Gibson tied on 706 but on 25 Xs, the small-margin difference that places her second. Denmark's Tanja Gellenthien is third on 704.
The ranking round only sets the bracket; it does not award medals. The match play that begins next produces the actual European champions. But Antalya's qualifying day has handed Horackova a top seed in recurve women, France a familiar lead in recurve men, and Denmark a top seed in compound men with a European record-matching score.
A quiet line on the ranking round, Horackova was the only top seed to publicly admit she had expected the scores to be higher. Whether that pressure builds back in the matches — with Canales lurking and a Spanish team eager to convert qualifying form into seniors team gold — is the story now in front of her.