Lisa Barbelin: “I can shoot between 2,000 and 2,500 arrows a week”

07h16 – May 16, 2023

Last April, Riomoises Lisa Barbelin, Audrey Adiceom and Caroline Lopez won bronze at the first stage of the Archery World Cup in Turkey (© J. Rossignol, FFTA).

At 23, Mosellane, European archery champion, has been training with the Archers Riomois since 2018. Interview with an athlete who is also a student at La Sorbonne and Maréchale des logis who is aiming for a medal at the 2024 Olympic Games.

How did you join the Archers Riomois club?

I was very good friends with Audrey Adiceom who is at the club and as I was looking for a first division structure, the choice was quickly made. Riom is one of the best clubs in France. I have been in this club since 2018. It is a club with a very family atmosphere, soft and caring and that is what I was looking for. We all get along very well with a real osmosis between the girls’ and boys’ teams. I am very happy to be part of this club.

How did you come to practice this sport?

My uncle made it and asked me if I wanted to try it. I immediately hooked then everyone got into it! My dad is a trainer, my mom trains with me, my sisters also before. That’s a lot of hours of training. I train from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. every day. I shoot 2000 to 2500 arrows a week. We must add physical preparation with running and bodybuilding. There is also mental preparation.

A very important aspect?

I had a mental coach before the Tokyo Olympics, then I decided to surf on what I had learned because I was paying too much attention to it. Now I do a lot of yoga and meditation but also analysis before and after competitions with my trainer who also has training in mental preparation. I also do cardiac coherence which is a breathing technique. This allows you to have the most regular heartbeat possible and to be very lucid in stressful situations. The mind is very important in this sport of precision and concentration. It is necessary to calm the heart and its emotions.

You have reached 8^e finals at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Is it your goal to win a medal in 2024?

This is the objective of the last four years but also of the next four. It’s constantly in my head and I intend to get there. In my room, I have the countdown to the Olympics, a flag and on my computer the Invalides in the background. Representing your country, at home, would have a special flavor. There has never been a French women’s individual medal. At the Olympics, there will be three places for girls, three places for boys.

At the same time, you are a chemistry student at La Sorbonne. How do you organize yourselves?

It’s a lot of organization to fix my partials between competitions and discussions with the school which is on top with me. I’m an intern at INSEP so it’s super practical. I am also financially supported by the Caisse d’épargne Auvergne Limousin in particular and this allows me to spread out my studies more serenely because I will be entering working life later than the others. I can put some money aside to maybe leave boarding school while being a top athlete. It’s a real plus, I’m much more serene.

And you are also the Marshal of the Logis…

Yes, I am in the army of champions which is attached to the national gendarmerie. I am also godmother of the Judicial Center of the National Gendarmerie. I wanted to join the scientific gendarmerie. We will see in the future.

What advice would you give to young people to start archery?

I would tell them that it’s a super fun sport where you learn a lot of things in life. You meet some very nice people there. And for future champion seeds, you have to believe in your dreams.