This is the second installment in our weeklong series taking a closer look at Team USA members and their sports ahead of the start of the Paris Olympics.
In archery, to reach your target, you need accuracy. Focus. Precision.
For San Diego’s Catalina Gnoriega, she is precisely on target; her trajectory taking her to Paris for her first Olympic Games.
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“It’s a dream come true,” Gnoriega said. “There are so many people who dream of that for so long and work so hard. It’s really such a good feeling. It’s a dream come true to be able to say I made it — I’m going to go compete there.”
She first picked up the bow and arrow at age 12. Gnoriega said she gravitated to the independence the sport provides an athlete and the opportunity to hone your craft while staying in the zone.
It all comes down to just arrows, a bow and the archer. All three coming together for a united purpose.
“It’s hard to pinpoint what it is exactly, but I like that it’s individual and like I’m able to focus on myself, I was always like that, especially when I was a kid, that drew me in,” Gnoriega said. “All I had to do was show up and shoot.”
Now at age 21, whether she’s competing as an individual or part of a team, Gnoriega will have her parents there in Paris to cheer her on, the ones who supported her through her journey. She will proudly represent her Mexican-American heritage as a member of Team USA.
“It’s crazy,” Gnoriega said. “It’s such an honor. It’s crazy to think that I’m on the same team as someone like Simone Biles and these other people who are incredible — I’m on that same team. That’s such an incredible feeling. I just can’t believe it.”
And she’s now on the hunt for her next target: Olympic medals.
“The goal would be to get medals,” Gnoriega said. “But overall I just want to go have fun. Do what I know how to do. Just shoot and trust myself and enjoy it because it hopefully it’s not just once, but it’s kind of like a once in a lifetime opportunity. I just want to enjoy it.”
