Paul Rouget, Media365: published on Friday August 30, 2024 at 11:07 a.m.
Guillaume Toucoullet, who competed in the para-archery qualifying round, set the Paralympic Games record at Les Invalides. A good omen for the final phase.
The Paris Paralympic Games got off to a good start for France with three medals already on Thursday, during the first day. Two silver, for para-cyclist Marie Patouillet, already the first French medallist in Tokyo, and Alex Portal, in para-swimming, after Ugo Didier’s victory. The Toulouse para-swimmer spoke of the “completely crazy” atmosphere at the Paris La Défense Arena, which was in stark contrast to that of the Invalides, where a Frenchman broke a record in para-archery, but with almost no one to see him. Because like at the Olympics, the ranking round is played without an audience.
“I think it’s not me”
Not enough to disturb Guillaume Toucoullet, who set the Paralympic record in the individual recurve bow event, with a score of 652 points. The previous record had been set by Iranian Gholamreza Rahimi at the Tokyo Games, with 644 points. And the Bayonnais, world number two, did not believe it right away. “At first, the Australian coach came to congratulate me and tell me that I had broken the Paralympic record. I told him no, I think it wasn’t me. And then I heard: “The new Paralympic record” (laughs). He was right!”, he then joked, reports Ouest-France.
“A big surprise”
Victim of a motorcycle accident in 2010 and paralysed in the left arm, Toucoullet (39 years old), who has the particularity of pulling the string of his bow with his mouth to release the arrow, had not however had an ideal start, starting his day “diesel, not very well”. “I wanted to achieve my ranking, I stuck to my technique. I made reading choices, I was sometimes surprised by the wind… But I am still happy with the achievement”, explained the man for whom this record is “a big surprise”. To be confirmed during the final phase, on September 4, for the big favourite.
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