Archery’s medal hopes have soared with the elimination of Lisa Barbelin in the round of 16 of the individual event this Friday morning in Tokyo. The objective to do as well as in Rio in 2016 (Jean-Charles Valladont silver medalist), with two additional events to shine (mixed and individual women), was not met. The race against time is on for the Paris 2024 Games.
Fiasco in men
“It is at the foot of the wall that we see the wall better”, is used to declaring Jean-Charles Valladont. The formula, effective in Paris in June (France had taken the 3rd and last qualifying place for the OJ at the TQO), did not work this time. The wall grew with the trials, and Valladont never managed to break free to pass to the other side and endorse his status as Olympic vice-champion.
At 23, Thomas Chirault experienced his first Games. Timorous in qualifying, he did not spend an individual round, while he had been able to raise his level in teams (4×10 in six shots). It is finally the third man of this team, Pierre Plihon, who showed a little more vitality. Best French in qualifying, he allows the mixed to compete in the final table (the Barbelin-Valladont association had been decided before the Games), and is the only one to have spent an individual round. But his blunder during the team event stains. The silver medal for this team at the 2017 Worlds, or the title at the European Games in 2019, seems far away.
“We had a team that was two-thirds that of Rio (Valladont and Plihon were associated with Daniel Lucas), where the level of performance had not been better, except the individual of Jean-Charles, notes Benoît Binon, the DTN. Today, we arrive hoping that everything will go well in order to be able to make a medal, we have no room for maneuver. You have to arrive in Paris with a much greater level of confidence and serenity. “
Hope in women
Impressive in the mixed event and her first two individual rounds, Lisa Barbelin fell in the round of 16 against Mexican Alejandra Valencia, 4th in 2016 in Rio and mixed bronze medalist in Tokyo. At 21, the French European champion was not unworthy, but lacked experience at the highest level. The appointment is made for Paris 2024.
“There are little things to work on, more experience to have to be able to keep the same state of mind, points out Jean-Manuel Tizzoni, the women’s coach. What is complicated at the Olympics is to wait. We play a match, we find the right frame of mind, we are good, and we have to put it back in place the next day, with another situation, another day. It takes even more experience, and technical work to be more comfortable. “
And now ?
Only Korea has a pool of potential champions. France can count on two or three additional promising boys, and a women’s team in reconstruction (eliminated in the round of 16 of the TQO in Paris).
“In three years we will not reach the level of the Koreans, but we need international consistency in the two years before Paris which guarantees us that the three boys and three girls who shoot in Paris will have more serenity than today “, insists Benoît Binon. Work will begin in September, with, if confirmed, the World Championships in Yankton, USA (September 19-26).
.
