Heartbreak for French girls, elation for boys

The girls were building a commanding lead over Russia, before Laura RUGGIERI shot a miss with the final arrow of the end. Over 23 of the match’s 24 arrows, the French were better – but the deficit was too much to overcome. Russia took bronze.

“The most important thing is to not feel too guilty,” said experienced senior French recurve archer Berengere SCHUH, while consoling the young athlete – who will have another chance at bronze in the individual finals tomorrow. Italy took recurve junior women’s gold by a point.

France’s boys were clinical in their dismantling of Ukraine in the gold medal match. A 232 points total for 24 arrows, just eight shafts out of the 10 – and massive grins all round.

“We are the next senior team,” asserted lead shooter Thomas KOENIG while being dragged away from the baying crowd of French spectators by an anti-doping official. “Winning here is a good stepping stone – let’s see what happens in senior World Cups, World Championships… maybe even Olympics!”

A scoring mistake in the bronze match gifted Turkey the medal but – in the spirit of fair play – the team agreed to return to the field at the end of the session to shoot-off with Russia for the medal, which was the real result. Turkey won bronze over those three arrows anyway.

The World Archery Indoor Championships are underway in Nimes, France until 2 March 2014. Follow live scores, full results and World Archery’s coverage on Facebook and Twitter.