Puentes retrospective: Cuban archery at the Olympics

Cuba made its Olympic archery debut in 2000, in Sydney, with men Arias Ismely and Juan Carlos Stevens and women Yaremis Perez Ruiz and Edisbel Martinez.

It was Arias that advanced furthest, making it to the last 16 of the competition before losing to eventual Olympic Champion Simon Fairweather. Sydney, though, was Arias’ one and only Games appearance.

Stevens returned to the Olympics in 2008 and 2012.

Beijing was his best finish. He seeded 28th in ’08 and advanced all the way to the quarterfinals, before losing a second shoot-off to Korea’s Park Kyung-Mo and taking fifth. (They tied with their first arrows.) Park went on to win silver.

Aged 47, Stevens was one of the three Cuban men in the team shooting for a spot in Rio.

In Medellin, at the Americas’ continental qualification tournament for the Games, it was Adrian Puentes – a 28-year-old from Sancti Spiritus – who finished highest. When a place was reallocated, and Cuba was given an Olympic invitation, it was Puentes who was subsequently picked for Rio after internal selections in Havana.

A sparse competitor on the international archery circuit, Puentes actually took his first major podium when he was just 19 years old, in 2007. He won the Pan Am Games that year, also held in Rio de Janeiro – and beat Cuban teammate Stevens in the final!

Back in Rio again in 2016, and for the most major of events, Puentes shot a personal best during the Olympic ranking round, with 656 out of a possible 720 points.

The 37th-seed upset Mexico’s Ernesto Boardman in the first round, 6-4, but lost to Atanu Das, from India, 6-4, in the second.

“Shooting a personal best at a competition of such magnitude, and then being able to win one match, was my highlight from Rio,” said Adrian. “Although I’ve been shooting for a long time, I haven’t been able to compete that much.”

Puentes started archery in 2000, out of curiosity, and said what he enjoyed most about the sport was the opportunity to compete.

In 2006, he joined World Archery’s “Viva America” programme, which was created to assist up-and-coming young athletes in their preparation for the World Archery Youth Championships in Merida, Mexico, which he attended, finishing 26th.

The following year, he was selected for Cuba’s national senior team for the first time, and won his Pan Am Games gold.

Though he didn’t finish on the podium at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, his performance was regarded as a success.

“Cuba is a very sporty country with good results, which makes it difficult for us to gather attention. We must be near-300 archers, and we are united and, step-by-step we gain the exposure needed to make the sport more popular,” said Adrian, who became Cuba’s only sixth archery Olympian in 2016.

“I will continue with my training and will get ready for the future.”