Juan Carlos Stevens: 3 times Olympic winning retired from archery
Juan Carlos Stevens: 3 times Olympic winning retired from archery. Juan Carlos Stevens remained a member of the Cuba national team for almost three decades. He officially announced his retirement based on competitive action with the recurve.
Carlos, now a 53-year-old man, started playing archery in 1987. He took five years to mark his debut for Cuba in 1992. After this, there was no looking, and he kept appearing and winning many competitions one after another across the globe.
Stevens participated in three Olympic Games, in 2000, 2008, and 2012. His highest rank was fifth, which happened in the Beijing 2008 edition.
Juan competed in:
- 6 World Archery Championships outdoor (1997, 1999, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2017)
- 2 World Indoor Archery Championships (1997 and 1999)
- 8 stages of the Hyundai Archery World Cup, and the last one in Medellin in 2019.
He participated in many events at the continental level. Both as an individual and as part of the team Pan American Champion in 1998. He won medals at:
- The Pan American Games (1999, 2007, 2011)
- Central American and Caribbean Games (1993, 1998, 2006)
Stevens remained 10-time Cuba national championship winner:
- 8 outdoor
- 2 indoor
The medals include seven silver and four bronze medals. Juan also created national records: 36 individual and 16 team records. In his speech he said:
“I am taking lots of great moments from my archery career and I made many friends all over the world,” said Stevens upon his retirement. “I am very pleased with the results I achieved for archery in my country and for my contribution to helping younger archers grow as we competed together nationally and internationally.” “Retiring after so many years as an active archer makes me feel like something is missing in my life, in my daily routine, but I will now embark on a more challenging task: teaching other archers what I learned over the years.”
“My most immediate involvement with archery will be coaching Cuban para-archers as they prepare for the 2022 Parapan American Championships.”
At the time of his retirement, his current rank was 258 in the world.
If we look back in the pages of history, we can see that his highest rank was 17th, and it was in July 2009.