The whistling of the sharp arrows, unleashed at a stunning speed, breaks the silence. In a clearing lined with secular lime trees, blue cedars and robust and constellated oaks of target huts, Nicolas Girard (25 years old) always stays with the star of his childhood dreams. Especially in full sun. Because if this Archer Saint-Martinois today in full light after his gold medal won during the third stage of the World Cup recently disputed in Antalya (Türkiye), he remained a familiar with the shadows. Always pleasant, especially available and motivated.
A cap screwed on the shadow skull, its fine and smiling face, whose acuity of the gaze translates the obstinacy and an iron will. If he climbed today the golden marches of sporting success started in 2022 with a success during an international appointment won in Paris, he passed on daily by the Agreste Club des Archers Saint-Martinois, which has become over the years the horizon of its progression and its development. On a postcard background, in this corner of Provence in summer clothes.
“I put the work regularly on the professionexplains this holder of a technical BTS. The pulleys requires a maximum concentration, on the stability of aim. You always have to be at the top of a physical shape to support the rhythm and be able to draw nearly 150 arrows per test. “”
The 2028 Olympics in the viewfinder
Respecting a tight training schedule, now an acute concern for accuracy in these tests as an assertive sense of precision, Nicolas Girard points to the row of blue arrow. And with the integration of the Arc à Pouelie into the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Game program in a mixed event, its road plan is traced: namely to be retained to participate with the French team, in this Olympic concert.
Recent European champion still in Türkiye but indoors in Sansun, the Provencal archer crosses the yellow line cheerfully: by reached the part of the target set at 50 m from the shot. If it is certain to participate in the world games next August in China (Chengu), he is hired this weekend in Boé this weekend, to consolidate his chances of participating in the last stage of the Outdoor World Cup, scheduled for a fortnight. “”I never put myself pressure on my shoulders. It is my temperament, to be relaxed. And to hit hard at the right time.“
In his eyes, each test is lived as a privileged moment. As during the summer end-of-year fair of the Sacré-Coeur school almost fifteen years ago, in Saint-Martin. It was during this festive episode that Nicolas Girard discovered archery. Before soaring and becoming forever, the first national archer to obtain in 2021, 600 points out of 600 possible, during a national competition in Châteaurenard.
