The French archers limited the damage without shining for their entry into the running in the Paris stage of the World Cup in recurve bow (the Olympic discipline), at the Charléty stadium this Wednesday.
Jean-Charles Valladont finished 38th in qualifying (665 points), Baptiste Addis 68th (652 pts), Pierre Plihon 86th (637 pts) and Thomas Chirault 96th (632 pts). The four archers then won their first match of the main draw and qualified for the 32nd finals, played on Friday afternoon. However, they will find serious customers on their way, from these 32nd for Addis, 15, against the Turkish Olympic champion Mete Gazoz, or possibly in 16th against the Korean Kim Woojin, 2nd in the world, for Chirault, or the American Brady Ellison , a regular on international podiums, for Valladont.
In the women’s competition, the best performance in qualifying went to Lisa Barbelin, 15th (658 points), ahead of Caroline Lopez, 27th (648 pts) and Audrey Adiceom, 53rd (626 pts). Mélodie Richard, 70th (602 pts) has already left the competition. The knockout matches will start on Friday afternoon.
The team matches will take place on Thursday, in the round of 16 for Les Bleues, 11th in qualifying, against the United States (10:30 a.m.). The Blues (Valladont, Plihon, Addis), 20th in qualifying, will have to go through a first round of elimination against Japan (9:15 a.m.), before possibly being able to face Taiwan in the 8th.
In compound bow (non-Olympic), Sophie Dodemont, Lola Granjean and Sandra Hervé won the team bronze medal on Wednesday.
The third stage of the Archery World Cup takes place at the Charléty stadium until Friday inclusive, while the finals will be played on Saturday and Sunday in the courtyard of the Château de Vincennes, broadcast live on the L’Equipe live platform.
