How Angela Ruiz Rosales Became Mexico’s Archery Sensation

One of the rising stars in Mexican sport is Angela Ruiz Rosales, who at just 17 years old is already one of the strong cards in archery due to her natural talent, which has led to various international achievements, including medals in the best tournaments in the world and her qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“Angela Ruiz is an introverted person, I don't talk much, but when I gain confidence I do it a little more. I enjoy cooking, spend time with my family and dogs, I have three. I enjoy every moment I train, although I also like to sleep and watch series from many seasons. I am very normal outside of everything I have achieved in sport,” she said.

The Coahuila native is living her second year as a senior team member, within which she has reaffirmed herself as one of the unshakeable in the elite of Aztec archery, only behind the experienced and already historic Alejandra Valencia. Although her career in sports did not begin with shooting arrows, destiny quickly placed her on what would become her life path.

“At the age of four, I started doing artistic gymnastics, which I liked and enjoyed in all the hours of training; it helped me a lot to understand what it is to go to school and sports. There came a point where I no longer made progress and I began to be afraid of breaking a part of my body, so I started looking for sports, and coaches in Saltillo offered me to try archery. From the first day I shot, I saw how exciting this sport is.

“I decided on high performance in 2021, when I was in my first National Olympics, there was a selection for a Youth World Cup. I came in first place in the control and I told my parents that I wanted to go and live that experience; I did well for my first World Cup and I knew that I needed to continue traveling, competing and being in the international world of archery to reach the elite. In 2023 I decided to join the senior team because I had nothing to lose and a lot to gain,” she said.

Pillars in her sporting career and qualification for Paris 2024

At the beginning of 2023 she secured a place in the senior team and the rest would be history, as in April she won her first gold medal on the international scene (in a team with Alejandra Valencia and Aída Román in the first World Cup of that year), which would be a harbinger for this trident of what would happen months later: qualification for Paris 2024 thanks to the bronze obtained at the World Championship in Berlin.

“I felt a lot of pressure because we needed to get the Olympic pass; yes, there were more opportunities, but the ideal was to get it in the first one. We qualified for the semi-finals and lost, so we were going for the bronze; I thought I had to give it my all and give what I know, focus on myself and not be guided by the public. I was very excited to have won the place, especially because it was due to a dubious arrow of mine; it was like taking a pressure off me.

“I always keep in mind my parents, my brothers and coaches, who are very important pillars in what is beginning to be my sports career, because ultimately, they are the ones who have taught me and guided me to be able to continue growing as a person in the best way. I also do it for myself, since it is a very vicious sport, because every time I shoot a 10 I want another and another; we want to reach that point of perfection in which we do not go out of the 10”, she specified.

Discipline, an essential guide in her life

The runner-up of the Medellín 2023 World Cup has identified her short, medium and long-term objectives, and to achieve them the common denominator is the discipline that has characterized her as an athlete and a person. In addition, she is aware that in a few years she will receive the baton as the main face of Aztec archery.

“A word that defines me is discipline, because I try not to miss training and therapies. Occasionally, I want to go out and see the city, but first my health and then what comes next; I also always keep the psychological aspect in mind, so discipline has helped me a lot to get to where I am.

“I would like to continue making history in this sport, and my mentality is that I want to become the best in Mexico and the world to be at the top of the world for many years, and that is what I am going towards. I really am not going to stop trying until I achieve the things that I am proposing to myself,” she said.

“In Paris 2024 we are going to see Angela Ruiz who will do her job and enjoy the experience of what the Olympic Games are like, the village, the stage and completely everything without pressure.

“I would tell my childhood self to trust in the decision not to continue in gymnastics, that we are doing it for a reason, and it was not in vain. Keep looking for the sport until you find the one that fulfills you,” she concluded.