After years of attempts, Matt Stutzman became the Paralympic champion. The famous 'Armless Archer' withstood two shoot-offs en route to the final and beat the top seed Ai Xinliang to reach gold on Sunday at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.
“Those were the best matches of my life in front of TV,” he claimed honestly.
“I've shot a couple of 150s at home, but yes, for sure. The best matches, you know, best matches of my life.”
“You don't get pressure at home. You don't get the best in the world at home. You don't get an 8000 stadium full of people at home. So, yeah, without a doubt, the best I've ever shot.”
In front of his family and a huge crowd, he showed his top archery. Each duel was meaningful, dramatic and even symbolic.
“It's definitely a book story. And I'll have more time to process it after a couple of days. But yes, it is. I don't think I could script it any better,” he said.
The story he wrote isn't short of anything.
Matt opened his campaign on Sunday shooting against Finland's Jere Forsberg in a rematch of the London 2012 final. This time the 41-year-old armless archer prevailed. In a shoot-off, he clustered his arrow straight into the middle of the target.
The 'Armless Archer' was paving his way towards the moment of his lifetime. He won against Nathan MacQueen by one and met China's He Zihao in the semifinal. Another shoot-off was needed. Matt shot a 10 to Ziaho's nine.
He already bagged his second Paralympic medal.
The crowd loved him, and he loved the crowd. In the final, he produced almost a perfect performance, winning over top contender Ai Xinliang 149-148.
“When he shot his last arrow, I knew I was going to hit a ten,” Matt claimed.
And he did. He shot a ten to clinch the title.
“I just don't know. That little birdie said, hey, you're here now. It's your time. You've been practising it forever. You got your family here to watch.”
The crowd cheered, and he celebrated in his manner – jumping, shouting, running across the stage. Two hours earlier, he was nearly out, but his last arrow got upgraded from a nine to a 10 to set a shoot-off.
“In the last four years, I never thought once about winning a gold medal,” he said.
“It was about having fun and making memories. It's a pretty good memory, yeah?,” Matt smiled, having a glimpse of the medal around his neck.
The family witnessed him reaching the top, and Hollywood Star Jackie Chan described him as “amazing”. Everything aligned to make Matt's farewell Paralympics memorable. Memories were what he desired.
“When I first walked out for my first match, I really had to fight back the tears of just being able to perform in front of my family and having them cheer, knowing they had my back no matter what happened.”
“I didn't want to add that pressure of winning a medal. I wanted to come here and enjoy Paris at my last Games with my family. And the memories are what drove me to practice. It wasn't because I was going here to win a medal,” he claimed.
He collected the best memories of his life. And a gold medal, which made him emotional while standing on the podium and listening to the national anthem.
“I couldn't believe I was there. I couldn't believe that the mental preparations and having my family worked out. And I couldn't believe I beat Chinese archers, because they were so strong.”
On Sunday, Matt completed his career. He built himself a monument, but his legacy is far broader than the medal reached in Paris.
“There're more armless archers involved in this sport now. You can take away all my medals, and I wouldn't care, because that would be my medal,” Stutzman said.
“Do you know how many people are here shooting and feeling what I felt when I first started shooting?”
“It's not about winning the medals. It's about the fact that they're competing against people. They're winning. They're getting this feeling of joy and excitement.”
Silver and bronze went to Ai Xinliang and He Zihao of China.
No comments:
Post a Comment