Romsey resident Patrick French arrived not too long ago from the Paralympic Games Paris 2024, making his first debut at the games.
Shooting his best shot, French was one of six Australians competing in para-archery in this year’s games, where he got to be on the world’s best stage for a sport he accidentally ‘Fell in love with,’ just two years ago.
The 31-year-old said the games was such a ‘surreal’ experience.
“It was amazing, it was an absolute whirlwind of build-up emotion, and then getting there, getting into the village, and seeing the venue—it was a surreal experience,” he said.
“Then trying to pull myself back from all that to really focus on the competition was challenging.”
Starting with the ranking round, French ranked 21st, and was off to his first match.
In the toughest conditions, French faced Indonesia’s Ken Swagumilang in the 1-16 elimination round, and fell short with a score of 138-140.
Despite the loss, French said he did everything that he could do.
“Some of the heaviest rain I’ve ever experienced, and I was absolutely saturated from head-to-toe, all the way through my cushion, everywhere was saturated,” he said.
“I was really happy with how I shot in the match, like I shot a reasonably well score, and all the shots felt really good. I stuck to my process, I did everything I was supposed to do.
“Going into the last three arrows, I was three points in front, but I made a simple mistake, I cleaned all the water out of my sight, which changed my perception of the target, which moved the arrows.”
The paralympian secured his position in the games after travelling to Dubai to compete in a world ranking event.
French suffered a workplace injury in 2015, leaving him paralysed and with an acquired brain injury at 22 years of age.
His passion for archery ignited unexpectedly two years ago, when a simple hunting plan opened the door to a new adventure.
“I bought a bow on a whim to go hunting originally, and then I was practicing out in a paddock close to my house, and I thought I’d look up the records … I found all the records, and I was like ‘I could do that,’ and then here we are,” he said.
“I never really thought about going to [the] paralympics or anything, and then the next games were Paris, and my name is Patrick French, so I’m like, ‘Well, have to go there’.
“I had no interest in para sport or wheelchair sports of any kind really until I found archery and sort of fell in love with it.
“It’s such a great community, the archery community. I’ve met some friends that I’ll have for life, and I get to shoot things all day.”
French said he planned to attend more games after Paris.
