Top archers hail Rio 2016 test event

RIO DE JANEIRO - The world's top archers on Wednesday hailed the Rio 2016 archery test event, which was dominated by China and South Korea.

The eight-day Aquece Rio International Archery Challenge at Rio's sambadrome featured 120 athletes from 28 countries, including 11 medalists from the London 2012 Olympic Games.

"It's a great venue and it's an honor to compete at the home of the Rio Carnival, such an iconic place for Brazilians," the Netherlands' Sjef van den Berg told Rio2016.com. "The event was really good, well organized," added Van den Berg, who took silver in the men's individual event.

South Korea's Kim Woojin, who beat Van den Berg for the gold medal, said he was already thinking about returning next year.

"I'm very happy with the arena and the people here were also very impressive," Kim said. "They were cheering during and before the competition. I like the environment, the locals, I liked it a lot."

Asian archers clinched seven of the 12 medals on offer, with South Korea bagging three of the four golds and China claiming the other.

Archery was the 11th Rio 2016 test event, with BMX and mountain biking to follow next month.