Mexico's New Archery Dream Team Takes Aim at Paris 2024
Mexico's new Olympic archery team emerges after a thrilling internal battle. Alejandra Valencia leads a squad of young talent into major competitions ahead of Paris 2024. The men's team must still fight for their Olympic qualification, adding to the drama of their journey.
The scent of rosin hung heavy in the air, the taut silence pierced only by the thrum of bowstrings and the soft hiss of arrows in flight. It was the final day of a grueling five-day contest at Mexico's National Center for High Performance Sports – a battleground where archers fought not with swords and shields, but with focus and finesse. At stake? A spot on the Mexican National Archery Team bound for glory at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The path to Paris, as these elite archers knew all too well, was paved with sweat, tears, and countless arrows loosed in relentless practice. And now, as the final results were tallied, six archers emerged from the fray: Alejandra Valencia Trujillo, Ángela Ruiz Rosales, and Ana Paula Vázquez Flores for the women’s team, and Matías Grande Kalionchiz, Carlos Javier Rojas López, and Bruno Martínez Wing for the men’s.
Leading this fledgling squad is Alejandra Valencia, a seasoned veteran with an Olympic bronze from Tokyo 2020 and a world silver from Berlin 2023 glistening in her trophy case. She is now entrusted with steering a team brimming with youthful potential and promise. Mexico, after all, has a proud archery tradition, a lineage of bow-wielding warriors that stretches back to the Aztecs and Maya, and the nation remains a formidable force on the global archery stage.
The road to Olympic selection was far from easy. The archers locked in this contest were not simply competitors, but compatriots; the cream of the crop in a country that takes its archery seriously. Among them were Olympic heroes like Aída Román Arroyo, Luis 'The Abuelo' Álvarez Murillo, and Mariana Avitia Martínez, seasoned campaigners who know the taste of victory and the sting of defeat. The tension crackled with a mix of reverence and youthful ambition.
Trials by Fire
The selection process itself was as unforgiving as it was exhilarating. Archers slung arrows through qualification phases, dueled in Olympic rounds, and finally confronted the nerve-wracking gauntlet of a round robin. Each shot was a step towards Paris, or a stumble backwards into disappointment.
Those who survived this final stage will soon return to their training ground, hearts aflame with Olympic dreams. Paris 2024 is the goal, but the journey will be studded with challenges: the Pan American Championship in Medellín, the relentless pressure cooker of the World Cup circuit, all culminating in the ultimate test of skill and nerve under the world's watchful eye.
The women's team, with Valencia, Ruiz, and Vázquez, already hold their precious tickets to Paris. Their focus shifts to cohesion, to becoming a single, three-headed archery hydra. It's a new combination, but one laden with potential: Valencia's experience, Vázquez's Olympic and Pan American pedigree, and the raw, hungry talent of young Ruiz, an international medalist at the tender age of 17.
The men, Grande, Rojas, and Martínez, shoulder a greater burden. They must fight for the team's Olympic qualification, a chance to stand beside their female counterparts under the blazing Parisian sun. Their battlegrounds will be Medellín, the World Cup in Turkey, and the unforgiving climb up the World Archery rankings. Mexico holds a single individual quota, won by Grande Kalionchiz at the 2023 Pan American Games; the stakes couldn't be higher.
Mexican archers in a line, focused expressions after a competition round during the national team selection process. Credit: CONADE
The Arrows of Destiny
As the dust settles and the bows are unstrung, there is an odd mix of endings and beginnings. The archers who battled their way to places four through six remain on standby, a testament to Mexico's depth of talent. They are the reserves, ready to step in should fate's fickle arrows dictate a change of plans.
Mexico's archery legacy is in the hands of this new generation, a team bound for Paris 2024 with youthful energy and veteran savvy, fueled by the dreams of a nation and the spirit of warriors from ages past.
Concentration of Bonuses of the National Archery Team heading to Paris 2024:
Feminine
1. Alejandra Valencia – 522 points
2. Ángela Ruiz – 449 points
3. Ana Paula Vázquez – 325 points
4. Aída Román – 244 points
5. Valentina Vázquez – 225 points
6. Mariana Avitia – 206 points
Masculine
1. Matías Grande – 513 points
2. Javier Rojas – 435 points
3. Bruno Martínez – 261 points
4. Luis Álvarez – 255 points
5. Emilio Treviño – 215 points
6. Saul Pech – 179 points
