Boukouvalas aspires to be one of the greats after maiden Olympic Games

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT is presented by WIAWIS.

So often is the tale of doubters told by athletes when discussing their origins. So often are they undermined by others when stating a sporting objective they wish to claim.

For Peter Boukouvalas, it was his dream of becoming an Olympian, something he put on his bucket list after watching the Athens 2004 Olympic Games on television as a five-year-old child.

Archery is by no means a popular sport in Boukouvalas’ home country of Australia but his love for it has always overpowered the struggles it has brought.

“Living in Australia, it’s not feasible to shoot 2000 arrows a week while still making a living full time,” said Boukouvalas, now 25. “My belief wavered every now and then. There are days where I doubted myself, there’s no question about it.”

“Anyone that says otherwise is a liar or a fool. But in that journey of those eight years, I learned to love the sport even more.”

Ever since Boukouvalas etched the Olympic dream into his mind, he says that his family has been “super supportive”, as well as his leader, Jamie, at the New South Wales State Emergency Service (SES), for whom he volunteers for, and his manager at Sydney Trains, Jason Todoroski, who allowed him to take weeks off, in the build up to Paris 2024.

The most important person though is the one who bought Boukouvalas’ first bow and has always kept the fire burning within him to succeed, his mother.

“She always she related to me from day one. I remember when she gave me the money to go and buy my first bow and I brought it back home.”

“I told my mum ‘I’m going to be an Olympian one day’, and she said ‘You can do it, I believe in you’.”

“Everyone else around said, ‘The hell you talking about? That’s ridiculous. You’re never going to get there.’ She was the only one that believed it.”

The 2023 Pacific Games silver medallist would not have reached Paris “without a doubt” had it not been for his mother, who he helped as a 12-year-old in her Greek home food catering business. 

Boukouvalas was able to finally tell her, the person who had rooted for him since day one, that the hard work had not been for nothing following the third stage of the 2024 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Antalya.

Australia’s selection for their two Olympic quotas (one man, one woman) was decided by archers who scored the highest average across four international competitions. Antalya was the last of these tournaments and it was far from guaranteed for Boukouvalas.

The Sydney local, who is also studying an emergency management degree, had been suffering with an injury in his drawing arm in Türkiye and was ill the previous week, contributing to his miss at getting in the required top 64 for matches as he shot 655 in the 720-arrow ranking round. 

It meant Boukouvalas had to rely on Rio 2016 men’s team bronze medallist Ryan Tyack to score a lower average in matchplay, which to Tyack’s detriment, he did.

“Shortly after that I called Mum, and I told her that I had it,” said Boukouvalas, who diligently recorded every other male Australian archer’s score on a spreadsheet throughout the process. “She was very funny because she said ‘I’m so proud of you. I’m always proud of you, but I’m just a little bit extra proud of this time. And yes, I knew you could do it.’ So that was cool.”

His dream in Paris came to a soon close, however, after losing to eventual men’s bronze medallist and men’s team gold medallist Lee Woo Seok in the first round, in straight sets.

Boukouvalas admitted that his shooting experience in France was poor, having issues with his sight as well as saying he “forgot respecting the pressure” of an Olympic crowd which had six and a half thousand vociferous fans packed in Les Invalides. 

He has called his eight-year long drive an “unhealthy obsession”, which ultimately ended in early disappointment. However, Boukouvalas two months on from his Games experience still has his head held high.

“And just the fact that I was able to do it,” said Boukouvalas when reflecting on his journey with the sport that began 20 years ago. “There was no guarantee that it was going to happen, but I stuck to it, I did it and that’s what I’m most proud of.”

The spirited Aussie’s ambitions don’t stop now.

Boukouvalas has been practising in field archery since coming back from Olympic action and is inspired to widen his craft from watching idol Brady Ellison‘s recent gold medal triumph at the 2024 World Archery Field Championships. 

“In my opinion, he is a true archer, someone that is a truly all rounded, one of the best archers of all time, and that’s sort of what I want to aspire to,” said Boukouvalas on Ellison. “I may never get there. It’s likely I will never get there.”

“However, that won’t stop me from trying and I think that’s the most important thing, that you always have a go you, and you do your best when you try.”

He already proved his doubters wrong in the summer, now Boukouvalas intends to really make it count and create a legacy for which he and his beloved mother will be even more proud of. 

He said it’s unlikely that he will be remembered as one archery’s greats, but having qualified for an Olympic Games all whilst balancing the sport with volunteering at SES, a train station master in Sydney and a student, there seems to be little to halt this unwavering belief, which on its own can take one so far.