The Olympic rifle shooter, who trains at the CAR of Sant Cugat, faces a new Olympic cycle with ambition and balances her sports career with aerospace engineering studies.
Helena Arias (Barcelona, 2001) is one of the few rifle shooters in the country and trains at the High Performance Centre (CAR) of Sant Cugat del Vallès, where she also resides. With a decade of experience in Olympic shooting, the athlete approaches this Olympic cycle with a more professional preparation and the goal of continuing to improve her scores.
“We have approached this Olympic cycle in the most professional way we know how, and it seems to be working,” explains Arias during a training session at the CAR facilities. The shooter highlights that season after season she sees improvements in both her highest and lowest scores, reflecting greater consistency.
Helena got into shooting by chance during the Festival of Childhood in Barcelona, where she tried the discipline alongside her siblings. The Catalan Federation offered them free training for three months at the Barcelona club, and what started as a trial has turned into a decade of dedication.
“The fact that in the end you compete against yourself. No matter how many people are in a competition and obviously there is a ranking, I think having that reference to base your progress on, which is your own score, is what I like the most,” says Arias.
Training in Olympic shooting goes far beyond aiming and shooting. The athlete breaks down the three key aspects: technical, physical, and psychological. In the technical aspect, the aiming process is divided into different blocks that are worked on separately to perfect each detail. Physically, she does strength exercises, especially for her core and legs, as well as cardio to reduce her heart rate and minimize movement at the moment of the shot.
Mental preparation is equally crucial. “How easy it is to get distracted when you’re training,” comments Arias, who works on this aspect both inside and outside the shooting range, with psychologists and specialists. Concentration and anxiety control are fundamental in a discipline where the margin for error is minimal.
The shooter has customised her rifle with parts made using a 3D printer, demonstrating her interest in technology and innovation. This detail is not coincidental: Helena balances her sports career with aerospace engineering studies, a field she is passionate about and in which she hopes to make her mark without abandoning sport.
“I want to make a mark in the space sector without leaving sport,” she asserts with determination. This dual dedication requires exhaustive organisation, but Arias assures that both aspects feed into each other: the discipline of training helps her studies, and the technical training allows her to better understand the mechanical aspects of her equipment.
The CAR of Sant Cugat del Vallès is her base of operations. There she trains daily, lives with other elite athletes, and has the necessary resources for her preparation. The residency allows her to focus one hundred percent on her goals, both sporting and academic.
Looking to the future, Helena is optimistic but realistic. She knows that the road to the Olympic Games is long and demanding, and that the competition is fierce. However, she trusts in the work she is doing and in the team around her. “We are in a learning phase, because the regulations are changing and I’m happy to see that it seems we are learning correctly,” she explains.
The Barcelona shooter is an example of how elite sport and academic training can successfully coexist. Her story inspires other young people who dream of going far without giving up their other passions. In the meantime, she continues training in Sant Cugat, with her eyes on the target and the stars.
For those interested in Olympic shooting, the CAR of Sant Cugat offers top-level facilities and training programmes. Helena Arias recommends young people who want to start in this sport to approach a club and give it a try, just as she did ten years ago.
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