Peru sends 11 to Medellin as part of Pan Am Games selection process

Peru will host the Pan American Games in August 2019. Not a nation that’s been historically well-known for its archers, the Peruvian squad is doing everything it can to prepare for such a major event on home soil.

Eleven archers have travelled to Colombia for the first stage of the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Medellin, five of them compound and six shooting recurve.

They, and three other archers that didn’t make the trip, are competing to fulfil the quota places Peru has at the Pan Am Games.

“We’re all training hard to make the team,” said Willian O’Brien, one of Peru’s more experienced archers.

“There’s 14 of us in the selection process and the team will be reduced until only five are left.”

Nine of the archers in Medellin have been shooting for the national team for less than two years. An event on the Hyundai Archery World Cup circuit is a jump outside the comfort zone.

“This is a big experience for us. It helps us to improve our expectation,” said compound archer Beatriz Aliaga.

“We still have a long way to go to be at the level of many other international archers, but we are also confident that it’s possible with hard work and dedication.”

Lima 2019 will be the first Pan Am Games to feature a compound competition as well as one for recurve archers.

None of the Peruvian team want to miss out on being part of that history.

“Obviously, there’s also more responsibility, shooting at home brings extra attention, but all we want to do is enjoy it there with our people,” added Aliaga.

Peru’s team at the first stage of the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Medellin is: Beatriz Aliaga, Jose Miguel Bustamante, Valeria Canevaro, Mariana Illescas, Joshua Jimenez, Maritza Meza, Willian O’Brien, Jackeline Palomino, Santiago Prado and Pamela Velasquez.

Competition at the first stage of the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Medellin, Colombia begins with qualification on Tuesday 23 April.