One of eight archery events as part of the 2019 Pan American catalogue of sports, it was the eleventh time the women's individual recurve competition had been contested at the Games.

[2] Lorig was defeated in her bid to become a back-to-back Pan American champion in the final by Mexico's Alejandra Valencia, who triumphed in five sets to win the gold medal for the second time, reclaiming the title she had previously won in 2011.

As Mexico and the United States had already achieved qualification spots prior to the conclusion of the event, the position went to Colombia through Rendón's fourth-place finish.

Twenty-four places were reserved for the eight nations each entering the maximum berth of three archers through qualification for the women's team recurve event.

[6] Canada and Cuba later secured maximum berths at the Santiago tournament the following year, with Peru adding a second entry to their sole automatic qualifying spot.

Khatuna Lorig, the defending champion from the Toronto Games four years previously, successfully qualified through the United States national team selection alongside newcomers Erin Mickelberry and 15-year-old Casey Kaufhold, with 2016 Summer Olympics competitor Mackenzie Brown as the reserve.

[8] Aída Román and Mariana Avitia, silver and bronze medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics, were selected alongside Alejandra Valencia to form the Mexican team, the trio entering as the three highest ranked archers competing in the Games, Valencia the highest at world number 10.

[12] The women's individual was an outdoor recurve target archery event held to the World Archery-approved rules.

Only Catalina Márquez Rojas of Chile's trio advanced beyond the first round after ending as the surprise victor in her encounter against ninth-seed Elizabeth Rodriguez of Cuba.

[17] Brazil's three entries also fared poorly, with Graziela Paulino dos Santos losing in the opening 1/16 elimination round and Ane Marcelle dos Santos and Ana Sliatchicas Caetano departing shortly afterwards in the 1/8 elimination round.

The first quarter-final contest saw top seed Valencia defeat Erin Mickelberry in a one-arrow shoot-off after tying on five set points each, advancing to the semi-finals as the sole Mexican left in the competition; both of Valencia's teammates were eliminated in the following quarter-final contests, Román losing to Lorig and Avitia being defeated by fourth-seed Ana Rendón.

Deportes praised her style of play, writing that she showed "mettle, concentration, and definition in her shots" in overcoming the more experienced Lorig.