Best-selling author Paulo Coelho has dedicated his latest book, The Archer’s Way, to Mete Gazoz, who won recurve men’s gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
“Mete Gazoz: First book dedicated to you, genius of archery. This is my vision of archery as a way to understand better our lives,” the Brazilian author, who is an archer himself, said in a video posted to his Twitter account.
Coelho, who is best known for his acclaimed novel The Alchemist, originally published The Archer in 2017. The book has recently been translated into Turkish with the title: Okçunun Yolu (which translates as The Path of the Archer).
In the novel, master bowman Tetsuya, who lives as a humble carpenter in a village, is challenged by an archer from distant lands. The master accepts the challenge and transfers his archery philosophy to both the foreign archer and one of the village’s young men.
Gazoz, 22, beat Italy’s Mauro Nespoli to deliver Turkey its first Olympic archery medal in the nation’s history.
He finished fourth at the 2021 Hyundai World Archery Championships and third at the 2021 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final, both held in Yankton.
“Dear, Paulo: I am very glad to hear such words from you,” Gazoz replied to Coelho via his Twitter account. “I would like to thank you. I will read the book as soon as possible. All the best.”
