Elia Canales will represent Spain in archery at the upcoming Paris Olympic Games, carrying a resume that includes a pair of medals from the European Games and two silvers from the European Outdoor Championships, La Vanguardia reported.
Tarragona Native Secures Olympic Berth After European Success
The 22-year-old archer punched her ticket to the French capital following a steady ascent through international competition. Her career highlights feature a gold medal in the mixed team event and an individual silver at the 2023 European Games in Kraków, alongside silver medals at the European Outdoor Championships in 2021 and 2024. Archery made its modern Olympic debut at the 1900 Paris Games, was reintroduced in Munich in 1972, and has remained a fixture of the program ever since. South Korea stands as the most decorated nation in the sport’s Olympic history.
Mental Burnout and the Grind of Repetitive Training
Behind the medals lies a grueling physical and psychological demand. Archery requires extreme precision directed entirely at the center of a target, demanding a mental resilience that few athletes sustain effortlessly. Canales opened up about the darker sides of the sport in an interview with El Mundo, revealing the intense psychological toll of repetitive routines.
“The bow has even made me feel disgusted at times; I’ve sometimes thought, ‘Why am I doing this?’ There are moments when training feels like a heavy boulder, when you don’t enjoy it and you rethink everything,” Canales said.
That psychological pressure surfaced dramatically during her first senior World Championship appearance. Canales recalled crying through the entire first round while struggling so severely that she sent arrows flying completely off the target buttress. Those early struggles underscored the necessity of dedicated mental conditioning to break out of competitive slumps.
Adopting the South Korean Method and Shifting Mindsets
To combat the monotony and sharpen her performance, Canales works alongside coach Elías Cuesta. Their preparation leans heavily on the training blueprint established by South Korean programs, focusing on mechanical repetition, mental clarity, biomechanical efficiency, visual drills, and postural stability.
That technical groundwork has coincided with a fundamental shift in how Canales views the sport’s global powerhouses. Rather than feeling intimidated by archers from South Korea, she approaches the Olympic tournament with a renewed sense of competitive parity.
“We have changed our mindset,” Canales said. “Before, I saw the Korean archers and they imposed themselves on me, and now I feel like I can win. My points are worth the same as theirs; they don’t get a bonus for being from Korea.”
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