Paris 2024: Best Para archery moments
Armless Archer Matt Stutzman won his maiden Paralympic gold at his fourth and final Games Jodie Grinham earned two medals while competing 28 weeks pregnant Damien Letulle captured the hearts of the home crowd as he made his return to the Invalides 12 Sep 2024
The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games were packed with memorable moments, including athletic feats and historic firsts, that took place at stunning venues in front of a vocal crowd.
We will share three moments from each sport that made the Games very special.
Top moment
Competing at his fourth Paralympics, Armless Archer Matt Stutzman won his first gold medal in the men’s individual compound open tournament. The US athlete, who is also known for starring in the Netflix documentary Rising Phoenix, has said Paris 2024 would be his last Paralympic Games.
He scored 149 points, beating silver medallist Ai Xinliang of China at the Invalides on 1 September.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet, to be honest. I knew going into this it was going to be my last Games, so there’s a lot of emotion, and I didn’t expect this medal, to be honest,” Stutzman said.
“My whole strategy at these Games was to get all of Paris behind me so it would feel like a home Games, and they showed up. I feel kind of like they’re definitely family now.”
Stutzman, who claimed his first medal since London 2012, emphasised the significance of competing against other armless archers on the world’s biggest stage.
“My first match was against an armless archer who I was mentoring, and this is the first time in the Paralympics that two armless archers shot against each other. That was amazing and history,” Stutzman said.
“(Para archery) changed my life completely. I went from not figuring out how I was going to put food on the table for my family to winning medals and taking care of my family.
“I’m not sad,” he said of his retirement. “There are amazing armless archers that are going to carry on this tradition. I will always be around, and I will still be supporting and helping and getting them to achieve what I feel and achieve.
“It’s their turn to shine.”
Biggest surprise
Great Britain’s Jodie Grinham took two medals while competing 28 weeks pregnant. She took bronze in the women’s individual compound open event on 31 August before topping the podium in the mixed team compound open competition on 2 September.
“My coach and I spent a long time doing little pregnancy preps of her (the coach) moving me and moving the bump, so I could get used to that feeling,” Grinham said after her individual event.
“Even when I was shooting today, I’d be up at full draw, I’d feel that sensation (of the baby moving) and it’s almost like you acknowledge it and go, ‘I know you’re there. Mommy loves you, I’ll cuddle you in a minute’ or whatever you want to say to yourself in that moment, and then I would carry on doing my process.”
Asked what she wants to tell her child, Grinham said, “You were on the podium. Youngest member to be on the podium.”
Home hero
Damien Letulle captured the hearts of the French public as he made a return to the Invalides, the Para archery venue. The Invalides is where he rehabilitated following his accident.
The Paralympic flame at Les Invalides carried by Damien Letulle. 🏹🔥#ArcheryInParis #ParaArchery pic.twitter.com/z55NO9t3ZW
— World Archery (@worldarchery) August 28, 2024
Letulle, who competed at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games before his injury, carried the Paralympic flame at the Invalides ahead of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Opening Ceremony. He competed in the men’s individual W1 event, losing to Hungary’s Tamas Gaspar in the 1/8 elimination round on 1 September.
He earned the support of a home crowd and made headlines in France following his return to the venue.
