Elia Canales receives ‘MARK the Difference’ at the archery field of the Madrid High Performance Center days after being proclaimed European runner-up. The appointment is at 11:00 a.m., but He has been training since 8:00 without stopping. One arrow, two, three, four… We lose count. “Every day I shoot about 300 or 400, it depends on whether we do one or two sessions. We usually stop at 1:00 p.m. to go to the gym, eat afterwards, and go back to training from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.,” she explains with a smile.
That smile contrasts with his serious expression in each throw. Maximum concentration is vital to hit the center of the target. “At first I ended up with a headache, but you also train your concentration and when the competitions come, which is where it is most difficult, it comes out on its own,” she explains. Before each roll, spend 10 minutes meditating. In the gym they perform, among others, exercises with tennis balls, “like juggling”, to work on reflexes and concentration. And also specific visual exercises to improve visual dexterity when aiming at the target.
Every day I shoot about 300 or 400 arrows
Elia Canales, European archery runner-up
She is the fittest Spanish goalkeeper of the moment. His bow weighs between 3 and 4 kilos and has more power than most of his rivals on the international circuit and even some of his peers.. “And that when you shoot with wind gives you an extra advantage,” explains Elías Cuesta, his coach and head of the CAR national team.
Elia is very strong physically and mentally.
Elías Cuesta, coach of the CAR archery group in Madrid
“In addition to being very strong physically, she is also strong mentally. She is very perfectionist and you have to slow her down instead of motivating her. He wants to perform from the first day of the season and you have to learn that everything has a process,” adds Cuesta, who was an Olympian in London 2012.
Channels, which is defined as a person very resilient that doesn’t stop until it achieves its goal, It is fifth in the world ranking. They are I pray with Miguel Alvariño in a mixed team at the 2023 European Games gave three places to Spain for the Paris Games: one in a mixed team, another female and others male.
The position is not nominal, but its results indicate that it will be the one chosen. “We are working in a very good line. I am always knocking on the door and if it opens at the Games, well, or at a World Cup. But I think that the level is there and you can win an Olympic medal“, dice. Spain still has a chance to qualify for both the men’s and women’s teams. You can do it by ranking (there are still scoring events) or in the Antalya Pre-Olympic (June 12-16).
I think that not qualifying for Tokyo made me improve a lot and thanks to that I am now where I am.
Elia Canales, European archery runner-up
Canales was on the verge of going to the Tokyo Games. “I think it made me improve a lot and thanks to that I am where I am now,” he acknowledges. “She is a very good competitor but that was a turning point that made her mature and be better,” adds Cuesta.
A sprain marked his future
And it all started when I was 13 years old at a summer camp in La Molina. “The first day, Because I was clumsy, I fell and sprained myself. They made me archery through the forest with crutches and I loved it. When I returned I signed up for archery with my father,” he says.
They are silver at the Youth Games (2018) It made him realize that he could pursue shooting professionally. A year later he moved from Tarragona to the Blume Residence in Madrid, where each year he has grown in a sport that Koreans no longer dominate as much as before. “We are working in a very good line with Elías and he is seeing himself in the championships. Now Koreans don’t always win anymore. Before, a few years ago I do remember that we were going to the World Cup today and it was strange that they didn’t win,” says the Catalan goalkeeper. At the 2016 Rio Games the Koreans won the four golds up for grabs. In Tokyo they were beaten one escaped to repeat the plenary session.
In the Spanish training method, the mental part is key. “I have always given a lot of importance to that part because at a certain level the athlete is not going to perform better because he is better technically but because he knows how to manage the competition situation well. If you don’t train him, he won’t succeed in competition. We prepare the competitions with a lot of visualization,” analyzes Cuesta.
And does Elia see herself on the Olympic podium on the Esplanade des Invalides in Paris? “Right now our main objective is to get the place for teams, both girls and boys, and then we will see. Yes, I am visualizing myself but I prefer to go competition by competition and when the Games arrive for me it will be one more competition. It is more media but it is still with the same people, there is still a distance of 70 meters from the target and they are still my bow, my arrows and me“says Canales, who has no quirks when it comes to competing but who, he admits, likes to be combined in terms of the color of his clothes, bow and arrows. Always white and blue.
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2024-05-22 10:44:19
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