Bolivia’s Jose Luis makes nation’s international debut

Thirty-eight year-old former dentist Jose Luis Gamara always felt he had Robin Hood inside of him.

Ten months ago, he found out through the Bolivian Olympic Committee and local newspapers that archery was finally going to be included on the list of the Bolivian Olympic sports and that the creation of an archery federation was about to become a reality. He was excited – and he tells the story with a big smile on his face.

Jose Luis did some research and started watching archery videos on internet. He decided he wanted to make better use of his free time and set a goal in life. He started practising archery, with the aim of becoming a professional archer.

The process of creating the Bolivian Archery Federation started back in 2004 when Aida Mancilla – the former president of a local sports association in Bolivia – started to contact some other Latin American archery federations as she wanted her daughter to become an archer.

Eight years later, in 2012, the General Secretary of the Bolivian Olympic Committee, Jorge España, contacted World Archery Development Director Pascal Colmaire to find out more about affiliating to World Archery.

Olympic Solidarity, the programme funded by the International Olympic Committee to develop sports around the world, through World Archery Americas posted an opening to work on promoting archery in Bolivia. Former Colombian coach Ivan Gomez Bedoya was soon appointed.

Ivan went to Bolivia in 2013 and then in 2014, from January to February, where he started working with Cuban coach Ariel Rodriguez – now based in Bolivia – to create the project that started competitive archery in the country. Over the course of two years they certified 25 level one coaches.

The archery revolution started in La Paz, then moved to Santa Cruz and Cochabamba, until the pair finally arrived in Tarija, a small city in the south of Bolivia – and where Jose Luis lives.

Jose Luis received his first archery classes from Ariel, but after the coaches left there was no-one in Tarija to help him train permanently. Improving was a challenge he took upon himself – with the help of archery videos online. Jose Luis started to follow his favourite archers to learn more about them and their shooting, so he could apply it to his own archery.

Brady Ellison, he says, is the archer he admires the most: “I like his character, his temper, his execution… many things. I also admire Oh Jin Hyek, as he will always be a reference. I like JC Valladont, too.”

Bolivia was ratified as a full member of World Archery at Congress 2015.

Jose Luis knows that this was only the first step for archery in Bolivia, and the sport must grow. It’s the reason he took the decision to fund his own trip to the fourth and final leg of the Archery World Cup circuit.

“I came here by my own, paying everything because we don’t have funding,” he says. “I wanted to do it as I feel a commitment to archery in my country. It’s a big effort but it’s great I can come here and have the experience.”

Jose Luis arrived in Medellin a few days before the tournament and trained with Ivan Gomez and Colombian coach Richard Priestman. He also started working with former archer and now coach in Colombia, Diego Torres, who has been helping out through all the week.

Despite only starting to shoot at 70 metres only a month before the Archery World Cup stage, Jose Luis’ personal best for the ranking round is 610 points. The national record in Bolivia, which now has around 15 clubs and 75 recurve archers in total, was 533.

With the mission of learning from the best – and making some new friends – Bolivia’s only international archer has already achieved more in Medellin than he expected before making the trip.

“I have feelings and emotions that I cannot explain. I’m overwhelmed with this experience, I mean… it’s a dream, I feel I’m over the clouds, like in heaven,” he says, while struggling to keep his emotions in check.

“Before coming to Medellin, my only chance to see all these great athletes was through the internet. Now I’m here, close to them, seeing what they do. It’s amazing!"

Bolivia hosts the next edition of the South American Games. With Jose Luis and the drive for the development of archery within the country, Bolivia is on the right track to have a competitive team at Cochabamba 2018.