ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT is presented by WIAWIS.
For him, France is very important.
Pablo Acha, the only Spanish male archer qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, a member of the Clermont-Ferrand club, is probably the one who will feel most at home in France.
“I’ve always felt a strong bond with this country,” he says.
It must be said that Acha, who will celebrate his 28th birthday before the end of the Games, sees the Paris Olympics as a chance for revenge due to the cruel scenario that unfolded for him before Tokyo 2020.
After winning a place in Japan following a very difficult Spanish selection process, Acha saw the global COVID-19 pandemic reshuffle his pack of cards completely.
Qualification was replayed, Acha helped qualify Spain a quota, but was ultimately not selected as an individual.
“It was Daniel Castro who went,” he recalls. “It was hard to swallow, it all came down to nothing. In addition, the event where everything was to be decided in, where I was eliminated, was in Paris.”
“I really wanted to heal this wound once and for all. Since then, I’ve enjoyed going to Paris to shoot more and more. For these Games, it has even more the case.”
For Pablo, archery is intimately linked to surpassing oneself.
He started at the age of six to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, six years his senior.
“I loved it because it’s a very individual sport,” he says. “I loved the sensation of seeing the arrow’s trajectory. It was like watching a comet pass by!”
“In fact, it’s something I had to work on, because I was so fascinated by the arrow’s flight, that was the only thing I was looking at,” he laughs.
Archery helped maintain fraternal ties with his elder brother but when he decided to stop, Pablo had already developed a passion for archery, a form of internal competition within himself he described.
“I didn’t like combat sports, where the competition is directly physical with the other person,” he explains. “In archery, it’s more personal.”
“You are your own best friend, or your own best enemy. I love it.”
Born in Burgos, a small town in the autonomous community of Castilla-Y-Leon, located between Valladolid and the Basque country, a young Pablo was fascinated by the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
These were the Games he first discovered his childhood hero: Daniel Morillo.
“I remember we were on holiday with my uncle,” recalls Acha. “We had watched a lot of sports, not just archery and it amazed me, which ignited my ambition to one day take part in the Olympic Games.”
London 2012 offered him a second role model in archery in the form of Elias Cuesta.
“He is a benchmark in Spain,” says Acha, who has learnt a lot from the 2013 Mediterranean Games men’s team silver medallist.
“He had the technique that we are developing today in the Spanish national team. He has always been a role model in the way he approaches competitions on the mental side.”
“For example, I watched his facial expressions a lot as he always seemed relaxed.”
Armed with a wealth of experience and a keen mind, Pablo began to display his talent on the world circuit.
A European Champion in Antalya 2021, then bronze medallist at the Krakow 2020 European Games, Acha attaches his success to the great importance of mental welbeing.
“From my point of view, there’s no difference between the world number 30 and the world number one, in terms of shooting technique, and physical preparation,” he explains. “The difference is the mental part.”
Pablo points to archery’s two most important aspects: experience and mental strength.
“You can win without experience because the mind allows you to sublimate yourself,” he adds. “But experience allows you to win on days when you’re not so good mentally.”
It often happens in top level sport that a great defeat precedes a great victory. For Acha, missing out on Tokyo 2020 was a turning point.
“It was very hard to take, but I took it as a great lesson, and also as motivation to prepare myself better.”
“For Tokyo, I was thinking first and foremost of the team, but now I see myself as a much more mature individual, ready to go for a medal. When it comes to the Paris Games, I feel I’m a very strong competitor, both mentally and technically.”
“Everything seems to be in my favour.”
Acha reveals he had a tense pre-Olympic season. The pressure of having to qualify for the Games has inevitably brought its share of stress.
But it was in calmness that helped him find the minerals to perform and qualify for Paris. He says it’s all about “making the most of every moment, on and off the shooting range.”
This is one of his successful recipes as well as his love for sushi. Pablo goes fishing as much as he can with his brother. A practice that calms him down.
“It’s like a meditation for me,” he confides. “We feel connected to the sea, to nature we talk to each other, it’s really pleasant.”
On the eve of the Paris Games, Pablo has set himself the goal of staying in the moment. Each arrow is the most important of all, whether he shoots individually or in the mixed team.
“I know how I’ll perform,” he assures us. “On my own, or in mixed with Elia Canales.”
“The two of us have great communication, so I know we’ll have some really great opportunities.”
A silver medallist in the mixed team at the 2023 Spring Arrow tournament in Türkiye after beating France 6-0 in the semifinals, he is likely to cross paths with the host nation in Paris, which could be an interesting encounter having made friends with Thomas Chirault.
To further strengthen his bond with France, the country was where he made his first overseas family trip to as a 10-year-old.
“We set off by car and stopped off everywhere we could until we reached Paris,” he recalls. “I remember we rented a boat to discover the Loire. There’s something that has connected me to France since I was a child.”
After his compatriot Elias Cuesta helped him sign for Clermont-Ferrand, Pablo began to feel truly professional.
“That’s the difference between Spanish and French clubs. Here, you feel like a pro: the club takes care of you, takes you to the shooting range, a bit like being a football player. France gave me that.”
But for all his love of archery and his club, it’s not the Stade Clermontois Archerie that holds pride of place in Pablo Acha’s heart but living in France.
“I love the desserts,” he laughs. “But also the feeling of solidarity. I feel at home in my club. Even when you’re shooting individually, everyone in the club is there to support you.”
“I think it’s great that the club is using its money to help aspiring team members reach the top level. It’s like a family and I’ve tried to import that into our Spanish national team.”
The Paris Games therefore represent even more than a first Olympic participation for Acha.
It’s a highly symbolic moment. A sign of destiny.
“I belive in that, I believe in destiny,” he asserts. “Three years ago, I don’t think it was my time.”
“What I want is to go for that gold medal we’ve all been dreaming of.”
In the end, all this time has served to prepare him better mentally, to understand the effort needed to get to this point.
In fact, the Spaniard feels extremely well prepared for his first Olympic Games which kicked off today at Les Invalides with the individual ranking round where Acha qualified as the 33rd seed.
“Since 2018, I’ve been shooting for Clermont. I’ve been to Paris a bunch of times, shooting all over France.”
“Psychologically, I understand that it wasn’t Tokyo I was preparing for, it was Paris,” he concludes.
