“I am very happy with the result. I knew that we had many options to get a great result both individually and as a team, but we had to get here and do it. My goal was to enjoy and do what I do every day training”, he explains. Miguel Alvariño (As Pontes de García Rodríguez, A Coruña, 1994) after being proclaimed European champion in recurve bow in Munich and summarizing the plate by teams (for the first time for Spain) together with Pablo Acha and Daniel Castro. The 28-year-old Galician goalkeeper acknowledges that he is in a great moment, but he does not hide other worse ones: “I am shooting very well this year. Well the truth is that I’ve already had several, but luck was not on my side and the sports equipment, the bows and that, didn’t help me much either and they gave me problems in international events. Now I am with a new brand and much better psychologically and technically”.
Alvariño was left without going to the Tokyo Games due to the pandemic… and some controversial decision. He had a place, but the one-year delay reopened the process. The matter even went to court and after not agreeing with him, he thought about giving up his sport: “Staying without going to the Games caused a big mess in my head. On a mental level I was at risk of getting depressed because I had a terrible time. In fact, I couldn’t even watch the Games on TV, but I realized that ‘it wasn’t for me’ whatever I did. I had two options: to kill myself, that is, to leave the sport; or that it made me stronger… and it made me stronger. I assumed that the world was not ending and now I see archery from another point of view since before I needed to prove that I was the best, win medals… when I really don’t have to prove anything to anyone. I just have to enjoy myself, give my 100% and see how far I can go. Luck is on my side now and I continue to shoot very well. Today I am going to enjoy myself and then I will go back to training to continue that in a week we have another World Cup”.
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The season for ‘Maikel’ is being spectacular with the victory in the World Cup in Antalya (Turkey) and the bronze in Gwangju (South Korea), but the change of chip in his mind makes him see things differently: “Of course I want to be number one in the world but for me the priority is not that but to go to each competition with the chance to fight anyone. I am among the best in the ranking, but this is a minority sport that is not professional in Spain, so when archery ends, a job will come. That’s why if you don’t enjoy it, it’s not worth practicing the sport. It is still a game in which you must use your cards and get the most out of them. If you are able to win with them, perfect: if not, then congratulate your opponent and think about the next one. That’s how I see it now and that’s how I promised myself I’m going to see it until I quit archery. The day I wake up and I don’t feel like training or enjoying myself, I’ll leave it without any problems. In that part I am calmer and it is helping me to improve”.
Not going to the Games was an emotional blow, but also an economic one and despite his enormous level that today will make him appear as number one in the ranking, Miguel does not have help: “By not going to Tokyo I lost the option of having an ADO Scholarship and others from the Xunta or the Diputación de A Coruña at an economic level, but I was always a person who saved. When I get scholarships, I don’t fund everything I earn. I save to prepare myself at a sports level and for life itself. With my savings and a company from Galicia (Norinver Assemblies and Engineering), which is the only one that bet on me, I was getting the most out of it and pulling from it to be able to prepare this year, try to get another ADO Scholarship and think about the Paris Games. I think that with this result I will achieve it, in addition to others at the regional level. If not, I will hardly be able to think about it because I cannot continue to pay myself everything with the help of my family and my people to perform at the highest level. This European Championship was very important in terms of peace of mind that would allow me to think about Paris 2024. Obviously I want to be an Olympic champion, but in my head I will go from competition to competition enjoying all of them. I want to survive and give the best of me”.
