His goal was to “shoot at your best” and he made an impression right from the start. At Les Invalides, Guillaume Toucoullet is going for the individual gold medal on Wednesday, September 4, six days after setting a new Paralympic record (652 points) during the classification round for his category. Logically, he finished first in the qualifications and opened up an easier field for himself in view of the direct elimination phase. In the Open recurve bow – a classification that includes all types of physical disabilities – the Frenchman is one of the few to shoot with his mouth.
“I see my dentist more regularly than average, was he laughing in the mixed zone on August 26. My preparation is a little different from other archers. I can’t shoot 500 arrows a day, otherwise my teeth would be a bit grumpy and I would have pain. So, I often add targeted physical training on the cervical area and I play badminton which, in addition to cardio, helps me strengthen the whole area around the neck.”
It was this very particular way of shooting that seduced Guillaume Toucoullet when he started archery in 2017. Paralyzed in the left arm in a motorcycle accident seven years earlier, this Basque pelota enthusiast addicted to physical effort admits to having been “cretin” at the beginning. After having practiced rowing for a long time with the able-bodied and then para-rowing (he qualified for Rio 2016 but was not selected by the Federation), he thought that the energy expenditure would be minimal on the shooting range.
“At first, I just wanted to find something to do with one arm. I didn’t have much of an idea so I went to a forum for associations in Anglet. When they suggested I shoot with my mouth, I thought it was incredible.”
Guillaume Toucoullet, Paralympic archerin mixed zone
The 39-year-old Basque colossus is now used to shooting his arrows by pulling with his teeth on a leather tab attached to the string of his bow. At first, it was simply for fun, but the demon of competition quickly awoke in him and he found himself, to everyone’s surprise, in silver for his first French championships. Enough to arouse the interest of Vincent Hybois, the coach of the French team: “After the competition, he came to see me and said: ‘But where do you come from?’ At first, I wasn’t very keen on the idea of joining the selection, but then I got involved. In 2019, I was up for it.”
To refine his technique, Guillaume Toucoullet took his cue from the American Eric Bennett, who was also in France this summer. But he made some aspects his own. “I really wanted my shot to be as close as possible to the aesthetics of archery. For me, you just have to add an arm and it’s the same.”he points out, while his Arizona model tends to contort itself more.
The fact remains that with too little time to prepare for the Tokyo Games, the French archer lost as soon as he entered the competition. “I didn’t take it very well, knowing that I had broken my bow a few days before due to lack of knowledge of the equipment. It’s something that I took into account and rectified”explains the bearded man, who regularly pulls out hairs on the flights.
His disability being quite rare in his discipline, he learned to listen to his body a lot and to trust his feelings to make his adjustments. “The wind is really my pet peeve. I don’t have as much stability so everything is done with the nape of my neck and the strength of my neck. If there is just a little bit of it, I shift and the arrow goes far.”he says.
To continue his progression once he became vice-world champion in 2022 and holder of the world record (665 points, since beaten), he joined the Archers de Compiègne club (Oise), due to the lack of competition of his calibre in his beloved South-West. He added a new silver medal at the 2023 European Championships. Thanks to a schedule arranged as part of a professional integration agreement (CIP), this research officer at Enedis was then able to fully concentrate on his preparation for Paris 2024 since January.
“I didn’t want to make sport a job, but it worked out well. It allowed me to have more flexibility and to organize myself with my family. I have a little boy. I found my balance and the progress was quickly visible.”
Guillaume Toucoullet, Paralympic archerin mixed zone
As a lucky charm, he keeps a wooden arrow with a small yellow ball that his son, Patxi, once put in his quiver. Jovial and lively by nature, the world number 2 is “naturally became the leader of the French team with his charisma and his personality”, said Benoît Binon, the national technical director of the federation, who is also hoping for a good result in the mixed team on Thursday. Guillaume Toucoullet knows that he has done everything possible to legitimately aim for gold at home. All he has to do now is to devour the competition this week.
