15 December 2011 - Athlete of the Week: Sandrine VANDIONANT (FRA)

Athlete of the Week: Sandrine VANDIONANT (FRA) Lausanne – 15 December 2011 With clubmate Thomas AUBERT at Singapore Indoor World Cup Stage 1   The French archer Sandrine VANDIONANT is in top form. She is in the top 20 of the compound women World Ranking and has just won the Indoor Archery World Cup stage 1 in Singapore last weekend.   France’s Sandrine VANDIONANT started her career as a compound archer. Her best international result came at the World Championships in 2003 in New York (USA), where she placed 4th individually and won the silver medal with her team. In 2004, her achievements allowed her to occupy a career-best second spot in the World Ranking.

In September 2004, Sandrine switched from a compound to a recurve bow. However she never achieved as much success competing in the recurve category as she had in the compound category.

In December 2007, Sandrine married one of the greatest archers in the world, former World Champion and Olympic medallist Michele FRANGILLI from Italy.
  
The French archer made an impressive comeback to compound archery in 2010. At the World Cup stage 1 in Porec, shooting under the new set system, Sandrine made sensation by defeating the World Champion Albina LOGINOVA (RUS) in the quarterfinals. She then lost the semifinal to Nicky HUNT (GBR) 2-6, but went on to win the bronze medal with a convincing victory over Erika ANSCHUTZ (USA).

In the summer of 2010, Sandrine competed in the World Cup stage 3 in Ogden (USA). Shooting under the new Hit/Miss format, Sandrine made her way through to the quarterfinals, where she defeated Brittany LORENTI (USA). In the semifinal she faced Irina MARKOVIC, whom she defeated 5-3. In the gold medal final against the 21-year-old Canadian Doris JONES, Sandrine trailed 1 set to 3. Nonetheless the French archer made a strong comeback to win her first World Cup gold medal (photo).

Sandrine’s performance in the World Cup stages earned her a trip to the 2010 World Cup Final in Edinburgh, where she was the only French archer on the field. In Scotland she faced the World Champion Albina LOGINOVA (RUS) who stopped her in quarterfinals.

Sandrine started the 2011-2012 indoor archery season in great fashion with a victory at the Indoor World Cup stage 1 in Singapore, defeating Contessa LOH (SIN) 6-2 in the final last weekend. The French archer will try to claim another victory at the Indoor World Cup stage 2 in her club of Nimes next January.
  Biography Extract:  Sandrine VANDIONANT (FRA) – Born 8 September 1980 in La Bassée (France)  1st Individual Indoor World Cup Singapore 2011 1st Individual World Cup Ogden 2010 3rd Individual World Cup Porec 2010 1st Team European Championships Brussels 2004 3rd Individual European Championships Brussels 2004 1st Team European Indoor Championships 2004 1st Individual European Indoor Championships 2004 2nd Team World Archery Championships New York 2003 4th Individual World Archery Championships New York 2003 6th Individual World Indoor Championships Nimes 2003 3rd Team European Championships 2002 2nd Team European Championships Turkey 2000 1st Team European Indoor Championships 2000 2nd Team World University Championships Spain 2000 3rd Individual World University Championships Spain 2000   More results information on Sandrine VANDIONANT and all other archers at the World Archery website as well as her own website.   World Archery Communication