A few days before her departure for the European Championships in Germany, Lisa Barbelin continues volleys in the INSEP training center. From 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., more than 600 arrows shot every day. Intense but necessary.
« Some evenings, I even shoot until 10 p.m. », she confides to me. All nations that covet Olympic medals do the same thing. It’s hard and involves making sacrifices on a personal level. But the stakes are worth it. »
Returning empty-handed from the Tokyo Games – 8th individually, 5th in the mixed team – the double European champion approaches the final sprint towards Paris more calmly. Obviously. Since February 2022, the French team has been led by South Korean Oh Seon-Tek, 62 years old. In London in 2012, under his leadership, South Korea won six gold medals!
Lisa is ready to challenge the whole world to competition
The one that all French archers respectfully call “ Mister Oh » radically changed the Blues’ shooting method. “ In a few weeks, I had to completely change what I had built for 15 years. Before I was shooting, like a “gaque”, with power. Now, it’s much more flexible, everything is based on the balance of forces between our two hands and the relaxation ».
A culture shock. “ In South Korea, we shoot to win, explains Oh Seon-Tek to the magazine of the French Archery Federation. We often say “hard training but then God chooses the medals”. There is an element of luck but we are working hard to ensure that France is in the group of potential medalists. »
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A “humble and patriotic” superhero on the breastplate
And this new approach is starting to pay off. On April 24, during the first stage of the World Cup in Shanghai, the Blues broke six national records. A little earlier, for the first time in their history, the French archers won silver at the world championships. “ Something is happening within the France group. We are much more confident. The arrival of Mr. Oh took us a step further. » An Oh and ah! There remains the language barrier.
At each session, there is a translator but he is not from the inner circle and therefore does not have absolute mastery of the technical vocabulary of the discipline. “ At the beginning, it was really complicated, we didn’t understand anythingsmiled Lisa. And then we ended up finding a way to communicate with a series of useful competitive keywords that he whispers to us between each series. »
A few words like “ trust », « watch out the wind is blowing », « relaxation », « flexibility »… Enough not to waste energy. Because at the Olympics, the archery events are spread over nine days, from July 25 to August 4 on the Esplanade des Invalides. A match takes place according to a system of sets.
One against one, each archer successively shoots 3 arrows, with a 20-second pause between each shot, at a target located 70 meters away. After each end, the one with the highest score scores 2 points. The first to reach 6 wins the duel and qualifies for the next round. The Grail is obviously to place your 3 arrows in the central yellow ring which is worth 10 points, the maximum, and which is 12.2 cm in diameter, the equivalent of an apple.
Precision, concentration, breathing. Everything must be straightened out. To dream of a podium at the Games, you will have to place at least one arrow in the 10 and two in the 9. The competition will be fierce, but Lisa is ready to challenge the whole world.
« SOn my quiver and my breastplate, I stuck a Captain America shieldshe lets out in a final burst of laughter. This superhero accompanies me to every competition. He is humble, patriotic and he wants to save the world. It’s all me ! » Thirty-two years after Sébastien Flute in Barcelona, « Captain Lisa » hopes in turn to hit the nail on the head. Sorry, in the ten.
2024-05-16 07:03:07
#Lisa #Barbelin #soaring
