Familiar French faces back in Nimes, 11 years on

Sandrine VANDIONANT, Dominique GENET and Sebastien BRASSEUR – who won the compound junior men’s division in 2003 – remain fixtures on the French national compound team. 

The trio were preparing to shoot their second World Archery Indoor Championships in Nimes, and took the time to sit down and speak about archery over the last 11 years. Unfortunately, GENET was injured in the week preceding the event – but you can read extracts from that conversation below, or the whole interview in French on the FFTA website.

This return to Nimes, it must be nostalgic? What’s your best memory from 2003?

VANDIONANT: Re-living such an event is a great opportunity, still being healthy and at the right level… and it will be my third world championships in France. The first was Riom 1999!

I have two very different memories from 2003. The first: Berengere SCHUH winning the recurve women’s tournament – as it was such a huge moment in the arena. Catherine PELLEN losing is the second, as she’d announced her retirement at the event.

GENET: Eleven years is a long time for an athlete, yet at the same time it feels like yesterday. I will never forget that first time at a world championships – especially coming second in qualification, with the same score as the top seed. It was a similar feeling to shooting at the Trocadero Fountains in Paris! 

And as the tournament’s in France, the public will be waiting. That gets you in the guts!

BRASSEUR: I’m proud that eleven years later I’m still in the race. I had an incredible time in 2003 with Florian FAUCHER and recurve archer Caroline MARTRET, who became world junior champion at the tournament as well.

This 2014 French team won’t find it hard to find the same atmosphere that encouraged our individual success back then.

What has changed at the world level since 2003?

VANDIONANT: The level of the best archers is similar – the world record of 593 dates back to 2001 – but the number of excellent archers has increased.

GENET: Yes, the level has increased – although I managed 595 for my ranking round in 2003. Scores will be much tighter this year, and we’ll shoot matches in sets rather than cumulative points.

BRASSEUR: The world's best archers are almost all professionals – and this is definitely why more archers are shooting so well. The perfect score is within the reach of a large crowd, and shooting a nine can be really detrimental.

Which archers should we keep an eye on?

VANDIONANT: Erika JONES (USA), Albina LOGINOVA (RUS), Janine MEISSNER (GER), Christie COLIN (USA), Inge VAN CASPEL (NED)… and many others. Including the French women, of course! Indoor archery is very open.

BRASSEUR: Many might claim the title. I think World Cup Final winner Martin DAMSBO, Sergio PAGNI, Braden GELLENTHIEN, Reo WILDE, or Peter ELZINGA, maybe? Above all, I will be watching my teammates Dominique and Pierre-Julien DELOCHE! The battle will be fierce.

Interview by Jean-Denis GITTON. Photos: GITTON/FFTA, Archives FFTA.