Archery: Indoor World Cup in Nîmes, a record number of participants and French Olympic medalists

Les organisateurs du tournoi Philippe Michelutti (président de l’Arc-club de Nîmes) et Olivier Grillat (directeur sportif) autour d’une cible des JO de Paris. MIDI LIBRE – E. DZ.

Rendez-vous du vendredi 16 au dimanche 18 janvier à Nîmes, pour la quatrième manche de la Coupe du monde en salle.

Quantity and quality. The 27th edition of the Occitanie Nîmes archery tournament is already shaping up to be a great vintage. At the end of last week, it had 1,240 registered participants from 45 different nationalities. A record. 1,240, including the four French medalists from the last Paris Olympics: Lisa Barbelin, who won an individual bronze; and the three boys who were Olympic team vice-champions, Thomas Chirault and the two Nîmes players Jean-Charles Valladont and Baptiste Addis.

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1,240 registered, a record

“For the first edition, in 1992, we had 312 participants, which was already quite a lot, remember Philippe Michelutti and Olivier Grillat, respectively president and sports director of the organizing club, AC Nîmes. Today, we are the second largest tournament in the world after Las Vegas. 1,240 archers, we are at the limit of the limit. Moreover, for the first time, we will start the qualifications on Friday morning at 9 a.m. there is an Olympic effect, yes, of course.”

The Gard competition, the fourth round of the Indoor World Cup, will take place as usual on three neighbouring sites: the Parnasse, where the finals will take place on Sunday, the Parc des Expositions and the indoor bowling alley of Estanque. Two disciplines – recurve bow (the Olympic event) and compound bow – an international senior tournament (600 archers, 80% foreigners) and U21 (300 on the shooting range), plus national tournaments from U13 to Masters are on the programme for three days of “celebration of archery, from the youngest to the best in the world“, specifies the duo at the controls. With volunteers, around 120, “super motivated as never before” . Or rather “motivated archers”…

The Olympic medalists from Nîmes will be there

Everyone got into the game, and the Games. The Nîmes Archery Club, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2025, has reached 200 members. Including two Olympic silver medallists who, six months later, will be there to perform and win at home: the phenomena of precocity Addis (18 years old, world number 11) and longevity Valladont (35 years old, number 23).

If the South Koreans, the masters of the targets, will be absent, held up by a national training camp in their country, the competition will nevertheless be fierce with the Brazilian D’Almeida (number 2), the American Ellison (number 3), the Italian Nespoli (number 5) or the German Unruh (number 7), who defeated Addis in the individual quarter-finals in Paris. Quality, and quantity.