Jennifer Mucino grew up in Mexico dreaming of one day making it into the Olympics.
She didn't care how she got there but desperately wanted to carry the title of Olympian.
When her mom took her to a dirt field archery range she found her eventual path through a bow and arrow and the countless hours of practice which would follow.
Today, the 21-year-old archer has already realized her dream.
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She was part of Team USA's archery competition at the Tokyo Olympics but still wants more after finishing in 17th place.
Mucino, who was born in Boston, and has dual Mexican and United States citizenship had the opportunity to train with both national teams but chose the red, white, and blue.
She says it wasn't a hard decision.
"I knew I wanted to come live in the U.S., come study here, and make a life here," said Mucino.
Mucino trains at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center's Easton Archery Center of Excellence, which is one of the world's premier facilities for her sport.
The state-of-the-art training ground combined with three more years of international competition has the young woman who grew up near Mexico City looking forward to more success in Paris.
Mucino, currently one of Team USA's top-ranked archers, has one more Olympic qualifying competition left before the United States names the Paris team.
Five things to know about Jennifer Mucino:
- Her mom, who knew nothing about archery, read books and became Mucino's first coach in Mexico
- During the pandemic, Mucino set up an archery target on her Boston apartment balcony to practice her routine. Even though it was just a few feet away, it helped with her focus and mental discipline before the Tokyo Olympics
- Mucino lives with her parents and sister in Chula Vista
- On a heavy training day, Mucino will shoot more than 350 arrows
- Olympic recurve archers shoot arrows 70 meters (3/4 of a football field) from the target and hope to hit a circle about the size of a CD for a perfect 10-point shot.
