By Lucie D’Agosto
Published on 9 August 21 at 18:02
Over the past 20 years, Gilles Lemée has gradually lost sight suites of a genetic disease. Visually impaired for twelve years, he decided to consider this turning point as a ‘second life’ and embarked on the practice of archery at Club de Dinan.
A deep breath, the face that pearls, the muscles that contract, then no more a noise, no more a breath or a movement, just a rope that tightens. The bow is cocked, Gilles Lemée is ready to shoot.
It has become her Monday afternoon ritual for several years, despite the blindness. In 1995, when his eyesight had already started to decline, he took his first steps as an archer.
“Then I continued, I will have arched as a sighted and today as a blind person, I have known both”, explains the sportsman.
The shadows have faded
A mason by training, Gilles Lemée was declared unfit for work at the age of 40 and had to stop his activity, “the diagnosis was made, retinitis pigmentosa which reduces the visual field”.
Today, he still sees only the lights but even the shadows have faded.
“From the moment when I could no longer exercise my profession, I turned to an Institute for the visually impaired near Nantes. We had to relearn everything and it was not an easy task. Especially for braille, with my hands worn out from work, I lacked a lot of sensitivity and dexterity. I was also trained in computers for the visually impaired and in the use of the white cane ”
Archery was his second wind:
“A stem was specially screwed to the ground to allow me to position myself properly. As I can’t see, everything is played down to the millimeter, it’s a question of balance, of positioning the body but above all of feeling ”
Rigorous training
His trainer, Gérald Béjot, has been following him since his beginnings as a blind man:
“Gilles shoots up to 130 arrows per 1h30 session. It’s really a lot and it requires a lot of rigor. We meet for each of his training sessions. Unfortunately for tournaments and championships, it is much more complicated. He would need a volunteer to accompany him from the journey to the test via the return by train and there are unfortunately not many candidates available ”
Gilles Lemée still had the opportunity to participate in a championship within the club, but the performance was complicated since no arrangement had been adapted to him.
“There were also a lot of people, about fifty participants, I am used to training alone so I had to cut myself off from the noise to succeed in concentrating”.
New momentum through sport
Gilles Lemée has recently become a disabled sports referent in the sector, he is very involved in raising awareness of the cause of disability and defending access to sports for all.
Its coach Gérald Bijot offers access to several sports to people with reduced mobility, but “unfortunately, despite the offer, very few people are tempted to come and test handisport with us”.
The next dates are coming this summer and starting at the start of the school year to highlight access to disabled sports in order to encourage all those who would like to become passionate about it, as much as Gilles Lemée, for the sport that will make them feel the most.
Dinan Archers Club: [email protected]
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