American archer Brady Ellison had a bad day at the Pan American Games, and it was still good enough for gold.

The world's top-ranked archer overcame a sub-par performance to defeat Crispin Duenas of Canada on Saturday, capping a nearly perfect year and showing he remains the world's most dominant shooter.

The 22-year-old Ellison says "I was just a little bit off, maybe a just a bit weak in my shot. It's archery, sometimes the body is just different. But I shot good on the arrows that I needed to shoot well to win the match."

It was just enough to beat Duenas 6-4 in a close final.