ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT is presented by WIAWIS.
There seemed to be a period when Mete Gazoz was unbeatable.
From 2021 to 2024, the Turkish archer was simultaneously Olympic, World and European champion – an achievement that, by its very nature, will probably not be repeated often.
But winning those titles is one thing. Defending them is another.
“It’s really hard to win something in a big competition, but to defend your title is a completely different thing,” Gazoz said at the Nanjing 2025 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final last year. “It’s harder.”
Marie Horackova knows something about that pressure.
She is yet to hold all three titles at the same time, but she made history at the Berlin 2023 Hyundai World Archery Championships by becoming the first Czech archer to win the World recurve women’s title and only the second archer from the country to claim a World title, following Frantisek Hadas at London 1938.
It was the manner in which she romped to the top podium in Germany that really caught everyone’s attention.
Horackova swept aside Lim Sihyeon – who would soon become a triple gold medallist at Paris 2024 – Satsuki Noda and Alejandra Valencia Trujillo 6-0, 6-0, 6-0.
18 sets for, zero conceded.
The form, let alone the medal, would be hard to replicate for anyone.
Fast forward to Gwangju 2025, when for the first time in her career Horackova was tasked with defending a world title, and the Czech archer began as she had left off, with another 6-0 victory against Poland’s Wioleta Myszor.
But she was then eliminated in the second round by the late Denisa Hurban Barankova, 6-2.
“The fear of winning” was something Horackova touched on when she qualified for the recurve women’s final four at Madrid 2026 – the World Cup stage she eventually conquered to book her ticket to Saltillo.
“I told them about the process because I think I was only missing a small thing to get through the eliminations and reach the semifinals,” Horackova said when asked what she was telling Czechia’s team manager Hana Majarova and boyfriend Adam Li after the result was confirmed.
“Maybe it was the fear of winning. I was able to stay stable, and even when the emotions came, when I was really nervous and my hands were shaking, I told myself, ‘This is just emotion.’”
As Gazoz alluded to earlier, winning prestigious titles brings a new confidence and a realisation of how good you actually are.
But reaching the mountain top also unearths feelings that never had to be confronted on the way up – the pressure of doing it all over again, of being the hunted rather than the hunter.
The “fear of winning” may be a difficult concept for non-athletes to grasp, and there may have been other contributing factors that we do not know about. But it is something Horackova herself identified when reflecting on the period between Berlin and 2026.
Although the 2024 Indoor World Series bronze medallist found success in field and indoor events, Horackova went medalless individually at 70 metres during the 2024 and 2025 outdoor seasons. Her highest finishes were ninth at Antalya 2024 and Madrid 2025.
This year, however, she reflected that apart from being a couple of years older, nothing has really changed in the way she shoots.
“You can’t fight it or try to eliminate it because it’s there, and it’s okay. It’s necessary to have those feelings.”
“But the mechanics of the technique and the bow are still the same. Your muscles are the same. The way you learned to shoot is the same.”
That change in perspective has helped bring about a storming 2026.
Three international individual golds at the Veronica’s Cup, Madrid and, of course, Saltillo, where she made even more history by becoming the first World Cup champion in any category from Czechia.
She also took silver at the European Grand Prix Spring Arrows – her first tournament of the season – and racked up five top-three qualification finishes.
What perhaps stands out most about Horackova’s fine shooting, though, is the sheer fun she seems to be having on the line.
We must remember that this is someone who was born into archery, not someone who simply joined it.
Her father, Zdenek Horacek, is a former coach of the Czech national team – now a team manager – and served as the federation’s president for 14 years.
Then there is her late mother, Barbora, who sadly passed away from cancer in 2018. Barbora was, in fact, the last Czech recurve woman to qualify for an Olympic Games – Beijing 2008 – before Horackova reached the postponed Tokyo 2020 Games.
Berlin and now Saltillo are reminders of how strongly Marie is continuing the Horacek legacy, while carrying the Czechia flag proudly in a country with a limited talent pool and a preference for other sports such as football, basketball and ice hockey.
With archery surrounding Horackova from the age of five, perhaps the 2024 and 2025 seasons can also be viewed through the lens of burnout.
In 2026, though, the 28-year-old Olympian has clearly loved every step of the journey towards her glorious day at Plaza de Armas.
“I love archery,” she simply stated during the European Outdoor Championships. “It’s kind of my life. Sometimes it’s difficult to go to practice if I’m having a bad day or if I struggle with something, but I still believe there are goals to achieve and this motivates me.”
“It’s true that in Czechia, archery is also small and promoting it here and by my achievements, it means a lot to me and I’m like quite an icon of our sport in my country.”
“You can get also big support, but you really have to be one of the best.”
Horackova proved to herself in Saltillo that keeping up high-flying form is difficult, but there is more than one way of looking at getting back to your best as an athlete.
She is now learning to enjoy the bumps in the ride at the biggest competitions – and leaves the 2026 season as one of the best once again.
