24 February 2010 - Philippe HORNER, an Exceptional Archer

Philippe HORNER (SUI), an Exceptional Archer Lausanne - 24 February 2010 The French Swiss archer Philippe HORNER is a very special archer. Following his bronze medal at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, he won the 2009 French FITA Championships and the National Federal Championships in the Compound Masters category, shooting in a wheelchair against able-bodied archers. The French Archery Federation (FFTA) met with this exceptional athlete.   Can we say that you won everything in 2009? In 2009, I won the French FITA Championships and the National Federal Championships in the Masters category. In this latter event, I even managed the best score of the senior category: 707 points. Also I placed 19th at the French National Outdoor Championships in Val d'Isère. The bad weather conditions on the field made it extremely difficult for me, competing in a wheelchair. Anyway, I realise that I can still tease the senior archers, which is interesting!   Where do you train for archery? I live in France, 500 metres from the Swiss border. Since 2006, I have trained alone in Switzerland on a field adapted for wheelchairs. It has asphalt paths, where I can go and bring back my arrows. There is also an indoor facility with an elevator. This allows me to train on my own, without help from others. This is why I train in Switzerland.   Please tell us about your training conditions in your club? I belong to the "Club des Archers du Roc Noir", near Saint-Alban. I always receive a very warm welcome there. The archers are very caring. We managed to qualify our club to the Regional Clubs' Team Championships [the second-highest archery league in France, just below the French National Championships], which had been the goal of the club for two years. I brought my experience to the team, and I think people are happy to see a para-archer obtain good results. Thanks to this combination and the good spirit with the young people everything goes well.   Let's talk about your bronze medal from the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, where you competed for Switzerland. Could you have competed as a French archer? Yes I could have, for I have both nationalities. Actually, the Swiss contacted me one and a half months earlier than the French, and I accepted to be part of their team for the European Championships. Not everyone understood this and it was not always easy… If I had been training in France, I would probably have represented that country. Fortunately a lot of archers understood my situation. I enjoy training with French archers, able-bodied or with disabilities! The context is unique: I live in the Geneva region, where there is no real border for us. The Swiss might train in France, the French train in Switzerland. We live happily altogether!   How did you prepare for the Games? The Games went very well for me because I had an excellent preparation. I had been to China before, to Shanghai. I already knew the country and the mentality of its people. So I knew how to prepare well for Beijing. From June, I started to train during the hottest hours of the day. I used to train after storms and heavy rain, in order to get used to humidity… I tried to adapt to the Beijing climate by shooting in extremal weather conditions.   So you were in great shape going into the Games. How was your Olympic experience? At the Beijing Paralympics, in the first round I was to shoot against France's Maurice CHAMPEY. I know him well and it was not easy to shoot against a colleague, but once you're on stage, you must shoot and forget about the rest.   And then John STUBBS (GBR) beat you in the semifinal… He shot a better score than I in the ranking round: 691 points! There's nothing more to say! I was impressed by his attitude and shooting. He was very well-prepared, having trained with two Korean coaches. They are actually the best in men and women's compound. While I was more of an outsider, I managed the right performance at the right moment. I knew that if I wanted to win my bronze medal match, I would have to start with a 10 against TJ PEMBERTON (USA), and I did! That gave me confidence. However the final was so intensethat I don't remember the rest of the match. I was really focused and gave it a lot of energy. It was the first time that compound was included in the para-archery programme. There were 20 competitors and all wanted a medal, we were all hoping to win!   The level of shooting was very high. The scores in the gold and bronze medal matches were 115 and 116. Those are high score given our disabilities!   You took part in an exhibition match organised by FITA during the 2008 Archery World Cup Final. Please tell us about this experience? It was a little difficult. I had just returned from the Games one week earlier. I was asked to shoot three arrows against the "number one" woman, the new Olympic champion ZHANG Juan Juan from China. I was very tired and had started to relax, it was difficult to go back into the game. It was very intense to be shooting again, in front of the crowd. So many friends and acquaintances had come to see me, the French or Swiss archers were coming to congratulate me… Archery is the perfect sport to integrate the general archers and those with disabilities, isn't it? It's one of the very few sports where para-archers can practice against general athletes without any problem. For example, at the French Federal Championships, four of us were shooting on the same target. I asked to be close to the Judges table in order to be visible. An archer from my club went to get my arrows and brought them back to me. Archers with disabilities are very welcome most of the time, and especially at the French Championships. The most important thing is that archers with disabilities should alert the clubs that they shoot in a wheelchair. I think we will see more and more disabled archers shoot in the general athletes' categories in the future. I think it will become common with time. One very important thing happened: from January FITA’s own Para-Archery Committee met and will be giving all Member Associations encouragement to include archers with disabilities in all their programmes and will assist the organisation of the European and World Championships.   Thank you, Philippe, for your time. Would you like to add anything else? I would like to thank Sylvain RENARD, the President of the Club des Archers du Roc Noir, for his unconditional support.   Interview Didier TESTE FFTA magazine www.ffta.fr Photos Dean ALBERGA Translated by FITA Communication