7 June 2010 - Natalia SANCHEZ (COL): "I am very proud of my medal"

Natalia SANCHEZ (COL): “I am very proud of my medal” Antalya (TUR) – 7 June 2010   Natalia SANCHEZ (COL) won South America’s very first medal in a world championships last year in Ulsan. We met her in Antalya where she is a favourite to win the World Cup Stage 2 in the Recurve Women’s category.  Hello Natalia! First of all can you tell us how you discovered archery? My father was an archer so I started practicing with him when I was about 5 years old. I started with a little bow, just shooting everywhere. When I was about 10 I started competing locally and at 14 I had my first competition at the national level.   You improved all the way to the bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships in Ulsan. Were you expecting this medal? Yes, I was hoping for a medal because I had been working hard and our level as a team and as a country was getting higher, so it was like the good moment to manage very good results.   What did this medal change for you? I really don’t know if it changed my life, but it was a very good feeling. It gave me confidence in what I was doing. In that moment I felt that I was doing things right and that I could continue on that path.   How does it feel to be the first South American archer to win a world medal? I am very proud of my medal and very happy, because Colombia wasn’t seen as a good country before. When we travelled to competitions before, people from the archery community thought only bad things about Colombia: drugs, killings, etc., and now we’re showing that we’re not only good in violence and bad stuff but also good in sports. People don’t look at us in the same way. Now they see that Colombia is there, ready to compete and give the best they can.   What is the situation of archery in your country? It is not really popular. For example my medal wasn’t that much covered in the news, because in Colombia only sports like soccer and cycling receive attention and support from the government. They are starting to pay a little more attention to archery because we’re good, but I think we would need a little more money from the government in order to travel to international competitions. We have 2-3 very good compound archers that have the level to compete here in Antalya but couldn’t come due to a lack of funding. As a result only the recurve women’s team is here.   How do you train? I practice four hours a day, six days a week. I also do physical preparation on my own, three or four days a week for about two hours. I am a psychologist, so I do mental training myself, sometimes with my coworkers. I’m working with a sports psychologist. It’s my personal initiative, we don’t have a team psychologist at the moment.   What do you like best in archery? It’s a tough question. I like everything. I like to compete very much, and I also like meeting people and having the possibility to discover other cultures. But the thing I like the most is to compete.   What is your goal in the sport? To win an Olympic gold medal. As for now, at the Antalya World Cup, I’m pretty sure we can do a very good work in the team competition and individually.   What are your activities outside of archery I’m working half time as a psychologist. I practice archery half time in the morning, and I work in the afternoon. I work with sports psychologists, helping other athletes. I work with athletes from speed cycling, synchronized swimming, table tennis, BMX and so on. My boss is very comprehensive: if I need extra time for practice I can take it and my colleagues will take care of my athletes, or sometimes when I travel we communicate through MSN Messenger. My athletes understand my situation and they appreciate the fact that their psychologist is also an athlete who lives the same things that they are living.   Thank you, Natalia, we wish you all the best!   Vanahé ANTILLE World Archery Communication