TOKYO — Before she decided to become an Olympic archer, Jennifer Mucino had never heard of archery.
By the time she was seven years old, she knew she wanted to compete at the Games. The discipline did not matter. She just wanted to excel at something. Her parents signed her up for gymnastics and diving. Coaches told her she was already too old to become world-class in those events.
So when she was nine, her father, Javier Muciño, brought home a magazine featuring the 2011 Pan American Games, which were being held in Guadalajara, Mexico, six hours west of their home in Mexico City.