2023-11-26 14:41:56
The figures are surprising: in ten years, the number of licensees in French shooting clubs has increased by 72%, leaving the French Shooting Federation (FFTir) responsible for welcoming more than 250,000 amateurs and professionals within its structures. Building on this success, sports shooting is therefore approaching the preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with a certain euphoria.
As the main cause of this constant evolution (between 4 to 5% increase in licensees per year), strengthened links between the FFTir and law enforcement forces. Faced with the shortage of shooting training centers within the French army, a national agreement was signed in 2017 between the federation and the national gendarmerie to allow soldiers to train with their service weapon and buy ammunition from clubs. “This brought us a lot of licenseesexplains Michel Baczyk, president of the FFTir. Since then, an agreement of the same type has emerged with the police. »
The federation, however, ensures that shooting remains above all a sporting discipline which should not be indulged in for the wrong reasons. “We are far from the cliché which would like licensees to train for security reasons or to commit misdeedsrecalls Michel Baczyk. It’s so difficult to get a gun, even for professional athletes, and fortunately the law is very strict. We have many prerequisite criteria to welcome new licensees. »
Ambitious medal goals
Despite the figures, the discipline remains little-publicized. Complicated to film, the shot hardly attracts advertisers. Added to this is a host of clichés surrounding the very nature of sport. Shooting is one of those disciplines whose sporting dimension is sometimes contested, often due to ignorance of its physical demands.
“When we talk about sporting performance, we talk about three axes: the technical-tactical axis, the psychological and mental axis and the physical axis”recalls Eric Delaunay, French shooter specializing in Olympic skeet (1), present at the Rio Games in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021. “In each sport, there will be a percentage that will vary between these three branches. It’s true that for shooting, the mind plays a huge role,but it still combines these three axes”, pleads the athlete. Michel Buczyk agrees: “I challenge anyone to lift a six-kilo rifle 70 times in less than an hour. In reality, it is a very physical sport. »
It is also on the sporting level that France and its professional shooters have assets to showcase in the run-up to the Games. The FFTir, which has the double Olympic and Paralympic delegation, will present athletes in 28 events combined over the two events. Enough to be ambitious. “At the world championships, France always ranks in the top eight nations in the world and in disabled sports, it is currently the best nation in the world, so we have reason to be optimistic”argues Gilles Muller, national technical director.
If the Federation currently sets a goal of three medals at the Olympic Games and three others at the Paralympic Games, Éric Delaunay, as an ambitious sportsman, sees “at least 5 potential, just at the Olympic Games”.
The very first medal of the Games
From the morning of Saturday July 27, the day after the opening ceremony, France will have the opportunity, through the 10-meter rifle shooting event, to collect the very first medal of the competition. “Shooting has often been the first event of the Gamesrecalls Gilles Muller. With a part of frustration because very often the athletes cannot participate in the opening ceremony, but also a part of excitement with this possibility of being the launching pad of the French harvest, at home. »
In London in 2012, Céline Goberville offered the first French medal, in silver, on the second day of competition. Twelve years later, the delegation hopes to hit the mark again.
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