Par Thibaud Delafosse
Published on Dec 17, 23 at 6:17 p.m. See my news Follow La Presse de la Manche
He doesn’t officially have his ticket in his pocket yet. But Damien Letulle should shoot theEsplanade des Invalidesthe Thursday August 29, 2024. Place and day on which the qualifications tests of archery to Paralympic Games from Paris.
“I am the only French archer, in my category (W1, reserved for the heaviest handicaps, Editor’s note), to have won a place for the France and to have achieved the quota for World’s Championshipslast summer in Czech Republic », Proudly announces the 50-year-old archer, who lived in Cherbourg (Manche) for most of his life.
I have a sufficiently comfortable margin compared to my compatriots to be able to project myself directly onto Paris.
Damien LetuArcher
He will go down in Olympic history
Pending final validation by the French Paralympic and Sports Committee, in Mayit is therefore not too risky to write that Damien Letulle will enter thehistory of Olympism. In 1996he indeed participated in the Atlanta Olympicsalready in archery.
Victim of a grave accident the following year, because of which he became quadriplegic and lost the use of his fingers, he took up archery from today’s level three years ago, in disabled sports this time. A second career which will therefore take him to the Paralympic Games. Only around twenty athletes across the monde can boast of having achieved such a double.
After a career as an able-bodied athlete “brutally stopped”, Damien Letulle will be able to enjoy a real end to his career, in Paris or Los Angeles in 2028. (©Marianne GETTI and Hélène RENAUX)
He wants to make the most of the Paralympic Games
28 years ago, the American experience turned into a nightmare for Damien Letulle and his comrades from the French team, on the sports plan. The fifty-year-old, who now lives in Villeneuve-en-Retz (Loire-Atlantique), was beaten in the first round, in individual but also with theteam who was among the favorites. He came away very frustrated, and has not forgotten. “I feel like it was yesterday. »
There is no question of repeating the same mistakes in a year in the City of Lights. “We must not sell the bear’s skin before having killed it, as we did in Atlanta, and go step by step. » Beyond sport, he works in the disability environment above all, intends to live fullyevent. And take full advantage of the atmosphere, from the opening ceremony to its competition to those of the other selected tricolors.
He’s aiming for the gold medal
The sporting objective, despite everything, is assumed: to bring back the gold medalwithout however putting pression. Damien Letulle is giving himself the means to achieve this. “I’m doing everything I have to do not to lose in the first round in any case! The desire is there. I am conqueror. » For three years, he has been accompanied daily by many people.
It’s a whole collective that helps me, whether on a medical, sporting or partnership level. I’m very proud of it.
Damien Letu Archer
If they are mindset a competitor at heart has always been the same since his beginnings, his body changed after the accident.
“With my disability, there are more things to compensate for in my everyday organization. At the beginning, with the team, we roughed things out. Now, we are fine-tuning the details to achieve performance. Finally, everything is sharper than when I was with the able-bodied! There are new notions of adaptability and fatigue that must be taken into account. »
He found his trainer from yesteryear
With this in mind, the former president of the OHS Cherbourg Archery left the disabled sports collective of the French Federation two months ago. “I no longer found myself there in terms of competitiveness. We talked more about handicap compensation, which allowed me to learn tricks, than about performance,” continues Damien Letulle, who will compete in four major competitions between now and Paris.
He thus found Michaël Nayrole, the coach who accompanied him in 1996. “It suits me better, it takes me more into a competitive pattern. » Mental preparation, boxing, swimming, crossfit… The family father does whatever it takes to succeed.
I shoot 150 to 200 arrows per day, in my garden or at Creps de Nantes. I am in daily contact with my trainer, by video or in Paris. We will do training courses in the spring to put things in place more seriously.
Damien LetuArcher
He is in a positive dynamic
As he himself repeats, Damien Letulle is in a positive dynamic. The pleasure rediscovered over the last few weeks has something to do with it. That of shooting arrows, and they go where he aims. “When I took up archery again, I was in the discipline above all else. »
The icing on the cake: it is supported by many people, who will charter buses to go to Paris atsummer 2024. There are many requests. “Sometimes I don’t feel like training. So I don’t do it for myself but for all those who encourage me and who trust me. » Whatever happens at the Games, it will be a great celebration for the athlete.
I have already experienced a great wealth of work. The quest is prettier than the result.
Damien LetuArcher
He wants to benefit others
And to think that he hesitated to return to archery after his accident… “I was afraid of being frustrated and not being able to achieve the same performance. I didn’t see the notion of competitiveness in disabled sports either,” rewinds the licensee of the Cercle Sportif of the national institution of Invalides, where he had done his re-education for 18 months.
A meeting with Simon, an engineer, will allow him to find a tool to compensate for the use of the fingers he no longer has, after testing a hundred prototypes.
I joined the Impact 2024 incubator and created an association so that other people suffering from hand disabilities can quickly benefit, like me, from a solution to play sports, whether it is table tennis or shooting. with a rifle or a bow. The idea is that disability will no longer be a problem when entering a club, anywhere in France.
Damien LetuArcher
And investment which sounds like a waste of time. Damien Letulle also plans, later, to organize competitions, in particular to improve theaccessibility disabled athletes.
Without forgetting the numerous conferences which he runs in rehabilitation centers. “To give hope, to make people understand that life is not over after an accident. I’m married, I have a job, I have kids, I drive a car and I play sports. I was able to bounce back, even though I was wondering what I was going to do with my life after my accident,” breathes the native of Bayeux (Calvados).
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It maintains links with the Channel
A notion of sharing from which it also benefits school, like December 15 in Coutances. Although he no longer lives in the department, he returns there from time to time with pleasure and maintains many contacts.
Damien Letulle does not forget his roots, even thinking of mentioning Jean Devilgérard, the founding president of the OHS today deceased. “He is my spiritual father. Without him, I wouldn’t be here. He taught me to shoot a bow. » Perhaps he will think about it even more on September 1, 2024, on the podium, after competing in the Paralympic final…
Damien Letulle, despite his partners, still needs 15,000 euros for the total management of his daily support, in training or competition.
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2023-12-17 17:17:57
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