Elia Canales: "Our victory sparked a national drama"

BarcelonaElia Canales (El Catllar, Tarragonès, 2001) can shoot between 400 and 500 arrows a day. This Tarragona native has become the best Catalan archer at just 24 years old. A 2024 Olympian, this summer she won the gold medal in the mixed doubles event with a recurve bow at the World Championships, partnering Aragonese Andrés Temiño. It was in Gwangju, South Korea, in the country where archery is most widely practiced. The Koreans have won more Olympic medals than anyone else in this sport and had won every gold medal in mixed doubles since the sport's creation. Absolutely every one, until losing to Canales and Termiño. Canales, who studies marketing, covers ARA from India, where she is making her debut these days in the newly created professional Super League.

Congratulations on your success in South Korea. Winning this gold medal is already historic, but doing it on the Koreans' home ground, even more so?

— It was impressive. And at a World Cup, even better. It was an unparalleled experience to be able to win the final against the Koreans, performing as we did. We really did well in the final.

What was the moment of victory against the Koreans like? How did the Koreans experience it?

— We were winning, and the end was approaching. They were making a few mistakes, and we knew we were close. On the last two arrows, we had to go really high to avoid winning. And here I got nervous and couldn't even calculate how much I needed to score, because my head wasn't up to it. And when I shot the last arrow... I just wanted to cry with emotion. The Koreans congratulated us, very politely, but I think they experienced it as a national drama when we won.

How would you explain to someone who is unfamiliar with archery what this sport means in Korea?

— In Korea, archery would be like basketball in Spain, for example. There, they take care of sports like archery, taekwondo, and golf. It's a sport they cherish and value. And for years, they've dominated the Olympics and World Cups, winning many medals.

It's been a very special year. A year ago in Paris, you made your Olympic debut, coming close to medals, and now, this success at the World Championships. Are we talking about your best year in sports?

— I think the last three years have been good, but if I'm honest, I still have room for improvement. I haven't reached my best level. Because, for example, individually, I have room for improvement in the coming years and I've continued working.

Tell us a little about your story, because you almost came across this sport by chance, right?

— Yes, it was during a summer camp, one of those long 15-day camps, and on the first day I sprained my ankle, so I couldn't do the same activities as the others. And they put me to archery, on crutches, in the woods. And I really liked it! The truth is, I had a knack for it, and when I got home, I told my dad I wanted to join a club. That I wanted to practice this sport... And we both signed up!

Did your father join in too? Is he still shooting?

— Yes, he also plays, but with a different bow. He does something more traditional; he stayed at the amateur level and saw that his daughter was better [smiles].

You started getting very good results even before entering the CAR, the High Performance Center in Madrid where you are now.

— Yes, in 2018 I was a cadet and we ran a different distance, 60 meters. And that year I won silver at the Youth Games in Buenos Aires, competing against older athletes. So they told me to sign up for the senior team qualifiers the following year... and I qualified! At the end of 2019, I went to Madrid to train better and achieved good results at the World Cup and European Championships.

At what point did you realize you could be among the best in the world?

— At the 2018 Youth Games. That was the moment I saw I could do it, that I could be among the best in the world. My goal is to be the best in the world. Well, deep down, it's a goal you can never achieve, because even if the ranking says you're number 1, you can lose tournaments. My goal is to improve, to be at the top, and to be able to become an individual world champion. In mixed pairs, things have gone very well. It's time to do the same in individual and, well, obviously, at the Olympic Games, right?

For several years, the Spanish Federation relied on Korean coaches and methods, based on repeated repetition. A few years ago, the method was changed under coach Elías Cuesta.

— I arrived at CAR just as the change began. The Korean school is very methodical, but very repetitive. It can be very hard, repeating yourself hundreds of times, over and over again... You repeat so much that in the end you don't even know what you're doing, beyond shooting arrows nonstop. Culturally, Korea is a very disciplined country, with military service... Here, people are different. This sport requires a lot of mental strength and concentration. Now, they're moving towards a different school, closer to the American style, where it's not all about technique and mentality. They try to relate it, adding things like meditation. We've held meditation retreats, for example. We question why we do things, in order to compete well. When you have to throw in a final, you have to have worked hard on yourself to have the technique but also the ability to throw focused only on the shot, without thinking about the score or your opponents. Live in the present moment. Anger, for example, is a bad traveling companion here. You have to push it away.

You're now in India to participate in the inaugural edition of the local Premier League. What's that adventure like?

— They've made a strong commitment. And they created this competition with the intention of its continuation. They've sought sponsors and invested money to bring in people from all over the world. Each team has eight archers, and two can be foreigners, like me. The teams represent states and want the tournament to continue. It will be an experience; it's wonderful to be able to travel and experience other cultures. I enjoy it; I'm very lucky.