shooting with the feet, with the mouth… In para archery, come as you are – Libération

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Multicolored bob, Robin Hood-style feathered hat, cap flocked with the name of your country, all styles of headgear parade on the shooting range of the Esplanade des Invalides. The bodies of the archers lined up since Thursday September 29 are just as varied: tall, small, thin, strong, more or less muscular, amputated of an arm, a leg, both, in a wheelchair or standing. “As a famous sign would say, in para archery, it’s a bit: “Come as you are”, summarizes Vincent Hybois, the coach of the France team. Any person, whatever the nature of their deficit, will be able to come and see us and we will find solutions so that they can practice.” A rare potential for inclusion, even for a Paralympic discipline.

Compound bow

The most convincing example is undoubtedly the Indian Sheetal Devi, born without arms due to a rare congenital disease. The 17-year-old archer has the particularity of shooting with her feet and her mouth. An impressive gesture with which she chained the 10 in the center of the target, during the “open” compound bow event on Saturday September 30, and aroused the astonishment of the public in the stands. Sitting on a stool, the world number one holds her bow with her right foot and places the string between her chin and shoulder to release. “I really admire these girls who shoot with their legs. You have to have strength in your toes, it’s very impressive,” underlines Frenchwoman Julie Rigault-Chupin, who competes in the same category, but standing with a prosthesis in her left leg. On the international circuit, Sheetal Devi remains for the moment the first and only archer without an upper limb.

Maybe not for long. If the heaviest handicaps were rare on the shooting range a few years ago, today there are more and more of them. In London in 2012, the American Matt Stutzman, nicknamed “the armless archer”, was the first to shoot with his feet and win a silver medal. In Paris, for its fourth Games, there are now four: three archers among the men and Sheetal Devi. «To Los Angeles [JOP de 2028]we could double our numbers, with probably eight armless archers. This is my gold medal», commented the pioneer Thursday during qualifying. On Sunday evening, he won gold.

“A multitude of techniques”

At the Paralympic Games, the “open” category, which includes a large number of physical disabilities, allows this wide accessibility. Within this, two events are offered depending on the type of weapon used: the recurve bow, the same as that used in the Olympics, or the compound bow, for archers who cannot maintain it for a long time. in tension like Sheetal Devi, Julie Rigault-Chupin and Matt Stutzman. There then exists “a multitude of techniques and regulated arrangements” to adapt to the disability, explains Vincent Hybois.

“We are all in the same category, it’s an advantage and a disadvantage. But Devi helped show that you can be world number one with a heavier handicap. Proof that archery is accessible to everyone”observes Julie Rigault-Chupin, eliminated in the quarter-finals on Saturday September 30.

Guillaume Toucoullet, paralyzed in his left arm, thought that archery was not for him. Until we mentioned an unusual technique to him: “The first time I tried, I was asked to shoot with my mouth, I found it incredible to be able to do something like that.” When he started in 2017, the Basque was inspired by another American: Eric Bennett. The Arizonian improvised the gesture ten years ago to continue hunting, after an accident and the loss of his right arm. In Paris, for its fifth Games since Beijing in 2008, there are now three to shoot with their mouths. All with different techniques in terms of placement or head positioning. It is also with this gesture that Guillaume Toucoullet broke the Paralympic record, in qualifying for the open recurve arch on Thursday, under the eyes of Bennett, who congratulated him.

“When it works, it’s a huge satisfaction”

The Frenchman worked on the technique for a long time to compensate for the deficit in his left arm with the strength of his neck. “At first, we didn’t really know where to put the tab (leather strap placed on the rope that it grabs with its teeth to pull)rembobine Guillaume Toucoullet. I took some ideas from what was already being done and refined it in the club. It was only in 2019, when I arrived in the French team, that I really progressed in my shooting technique. With Vincent Hybois, they thought of every detail to be ready on September 4 (the day of his individual competition), until making a final adjustment barely a month ago.

“A big part of the coaching profession is inventing equipment and techniques so that a person with a disability can practice and constantly improve. When it works, it’s a huge satisfaction, even before the results.” explains Hybois, who first trained able-bodied people, before devoting himself to disabled sports. In close discussion with the archer, the coach “tinker, try and test” beforehand each system he imagines. Toucoullet shoots up to 500 arrows several days a week in training, to accumulate as many repetitions and sensations as possible. With constant specific monitoring on the cervical areas “because it is violent”, but also to the dentist.

The Frenchman, world number 1 and favorite in his category, hopes to inspire those who think that archery “is not a sport” or “is not for them”. Vincent Hybois is certain: with imagination and creativity, everyone can practice. And “If one day someone comes to see me to do archery and I can’t find a solution so that they can practice, I’ll stop this profession.”