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DELOCHE, posing with the French and Dutch teams, brought back two medals from Rzeszow 
Pierre-Julien DELOCHE discovered archery aged 7, and after a month of shooting the recurve bow, switched to the compound division. His elite career started in late 2000’s when DELOCHE was discovered as an archery talent while working as a military man in the French Navy.
The Frenchman broke through the international scene with a sixth place at the 2007 World Indoor Championships. Pierre-Julien DELOCHE has been among the world’s steadiest compound athletes since then. His first international title came in 2009: a victory at the Tournament of Nimes, one of the most prestigious indoor tournaments in the world.
In the last five years, DELOCHE has climbed the World Cup and world championships podium several times as a member of the French team. Moreover, he has been one of the most consistent individual athletes over the last few months. He competed in the World Cup Final at the end of 2012, and placed second to the world No. 1 Reo WILDE at the first event of 2013, the Tournament of Nimes. DELOCHE achieved major success last weekend at the European Indoor Championships in Rzeszow: he brought back the individual gold medal, and led his team to the silver.
Pierre-Julien DELOCHE is an active promoter of our sport, and has one of the best websites in the archery world. Unique for his fine analysis of compound archery, DELOCHE’s website offers insight ranging from equipment set-up to shooting technique, to competitions and the mental aspect of the sport. Reading DELOCHE’s blog entries, it’s as if you were reading his mind and standing on the shooting line yourself.
The champion’s journey at the European Indoor Championships
“Whoever scores a 9 will lose it” wrote DELOCHE in his blog entry about his semifinal against Martin DAMBSO. “Every arrow had its own preparation, as if each of them was a complete day’s work, shot with great care and determination. The confidence mode set in, I belong in the final.”
Putting all his energy into shooting his arrows, in order to score 10s, DELOCHE fought hard against the Danish athlete. He outscored his opponent fifteen 10s to fourteen, to advance to the gold medal match. The other qualifier to the final was the world record holder from the Netherlands, Peter ELZINGA, the man who beat DELOCHE at the Tokyo World Cup Final in September, edging him out of the medals.
Pierre-Julien DELOCHE with coach Benoît BINON
“ ‘How do you feel?’ asked my coach on the eve of the final. ‘I belong in this final, I want to be calm, live this final as it should be, shoot my arrows how I know I can. Calm and patience, relaxed face, everything goes well.’ I am an Aquarius, a dreamer, and this side of me always wants to achieve something beautiful, something to be remembered.”
“With all the matches that we have contested, Peter ELZINGA and I know each other well. He is a top athlete that I deeply respect and appreciate, sometimes he defeats me, sometimes I defeat him, and so on. The sporting rivalry cannot gain the upper hand on the human aspect. On that level, everyone works extremely hard to be the one who doesn’t shoot 9s. Everyone creates a bubble that the rivals must respect. Peter, just like many other athletes that I admire, knows this very well. Therefore, I was happy to meet him in the final, happy to be in the final too, and finally, happy to know that it would be a beautiful final!”
“The final starts, Peter opens with a 9. I’m not looking, but I hear the score, I record this fact, put it somewhere in my head and move on. From his first arrow, I have stopped paying attention to his results. I was focused on myself, my shooting, my sequence, my goal, I was so into it that I wasn’t aware of how many 10s or how many ends there were remaining. I knew that my score was 120 – and I still had to shoot three 10s to win.”
Pierre-Julien DELOCHE with Peter ELZINGA 
“In the fourth set, I heard the speaker announce that Peter scored a 9, and saw 4-2 on the score. At that moment, I just thought I had won the fourth set, and that I just needed to finish the job by winning the last set. My last arrow had been absolutely perfect, inside-out, with the sensation that makes an athlete want to do it again and again… This perfect arrow would lead into the last three arrows… That’s when I turned back to my coach and saw an unusual expression on his face, expecting a reaction from me. ‘That’s it’ he said, with a smile, to let me realise MY VICTORY!”
As dedicated to his job as he is to archery, the 31-year-old faces the toughest competition from the top American compound athletes who are all full-time professionals. The French archer, ranked No. 4 in the world, is considering a move to full-time archery in the near future.
Biography Extract:
Pierre-Julien DELOCHE – Born on 6 February 1982 1st Individual European Indoor Championships – Rzeszow 2013 2nd Team European Indoor Championships – Rzeszow 2013 2nd Individual Tournament of Nimes 2013 6th Individual World Cup Final – Tokyo 2012 3rd Individual World Cup stage 3 – Ogden 2012 1st Team European Championships – Amsterdam 2012 2nd Team World Cup stage 1 – Shanghai 2012 2nd Team World Indoor Championships – Las Vegas 2012 6th Individual World Championships – Turin 2011 6th Team World Championships – Turin 2011 3rd Team Indoor World Championships – Rzeszow 2009 1st Individual Tournament of Nimes 2009 1st Team World Cup stage 4 – Boe 2008 6th Individual World Indoor Championships – Izmir 2007
For more results/information on Pierre-Julien DELOCHE and all the other athletes, please refer to the World Archery website.
World Archery Communication
Pierre-Julien DELOCHE discovered archery aged 7, and after a month of shooting the recurve bow, switched to the compound division. His elite career started in late 2000’s when DELOCHE was discovered as an archery talent while working as a military man in the French Navy.
The Frenchman broke through the international scene with a sixth place at the 2007 World Indoor Championships. Pierre-Julien DELOCHE has been among the world’s steadiest compound athletes since then. His first international title came in 2009: a victory at the Tournament of Nimes, one of the most prestigious indoor tournaments in the world.
In the last five years, DELOCHE has climbed the World Cup and world championships podium several times as a member of the French team. Moreover, he has been one of the most consistent individual athletes over the last few months. He competed in the World Cup Final at the end of 2012, and placed second to the world No. 1 Reo WILDE at the first event of 2013, the Tournament of Nimes. DELOCHE achieved major success last weekend at the European Indoor Championships in Rzeszow: he brought back the individual gold medal, and led his team to the silver.
Pierre-Julien DELOCHE is an active promoter of our sport, and has one of the best websites in the archery world. Unique for his fine analysis of compound archery, DELOCHE’s website offers insight ranging from equipment set-up to shooting technique, to competitions and the mental aspect of the sport. Reading DELOCHE’s blog entries, it’s as if you were reading his mind and standing on the shooting line yourself.
The champion’s journey at the European Indoor Championships
“Whoever scores a 9 will lose it” wrote DELOCHE in his blog entry about his semifinal against Martin DAMBSO. “Every arrow had its own preparation, as if each of them was a complete day’s work, shot with great care and determination. The confidence mode set in, I belong in the final.”
Putting all his energy into shooting his arrows, in order to score 10s, DELOCHE fought hard against the Danish athlete. He outscored his opponent fifteen 10s to fourteen, to advance to the gold medal match. The other qualifier to the final was the world record holder from the Netherlands, Peter ELZINGA, the man who beat DELOCHE at the Tokyo World Cup Final in September, edging him out of the medals.
Pierre-Julien DELOCHE with coach Benoît BINON“ ‘How do you feel?’ asked my coach on the eve of the final. ‘I belong in this final, I want to be calm, live this final as it should be, shoot my arrows how I know I can. Calm and patience, relaxed face, everything goes well.’ I am an Aquarius, a dreamer, and this side of me always wants to achieve something beautiful, something to be remembered.”
“With all the matches that we have contested, Peter ELZINGA and I know each other well. He is a top athlete that I deeply respect and appreciate, sometimes he defeats me, sometimes I defeat him, and so on. The sporting rivalry cannot gain the upper hand on the human aspect. On that level, everyone works extremely hard to be the one who doesn’t shoot 9s. Everyone creates a bubble that the rivals must respect. Peter, just like many other athletes that I admire, knows this very well. Therefore, I was happy to meet him in the final, happy to be in the final too, and finally, happy to know that it would be a beautiful final!”
“The final starts, Peter opens with a 9. I’m not looking, but I hear the score, I record this fact, put it somewhere in my head and move on. From his first arrow, I have stopped paying attention to his results. I was focused on myself, my shooting, my sequence, my goal, I was so into it that I wasn’t aware of how many 10s or how many ends there were remaining. I knew that my score was 120 – and I still had to shoot three 10s to win.”
Pierre-Julien DELOCHE with Peter ELZINGA “In the fourth set, I heard the speaker announce that Peter scored a 9, and saw 4-2 on the score. At that moment, I just thought I had won the fourth set, and that I just needed to finish the job by winning the last set. My last arrow had been absolutely perfect, inside-out, with the sensation that makes an athlete want to do it again and again… This perfect arrow would lead into the last three arrows… That’s when I turned back to my coach and saw an unusual expression on his face, expecting a reaction from me. ‘That’s it’ he said, with a smile, to let me realise MY VICTORY!”
As dedicated to his job as he is to archery, the 31-year-old faces the toughest competition from the top American compound athletes who are all full-time professionals. The French archer, ranked No. 4 in the world, is considering a move to full-time archery in the near future.
Biography Extract:
Pierre-Julien DELOCHE – Born on 6 February 1982 1st Individual European Indoor Championships – Rzeszow 2013 2nd Team European Indoor Championships – Rzeszow 2013 2nd Individual Tournament of Nimes 2013 6th Individual World Cup Final – Tokyo 2012 3rd Individual World Cup stage 3 – Ogden 2012 1st Team European Championships – Amsterdam 2012 2nd Team World Cup stage 1 – Shanghai 2012 2nd Team World Indoor Championships – Las Vegas 2012 6th Individual World Championships – Turin 2011 6th Team World Championships – Turin 2011 3rd Team Indoor World Championships – Rzeszow 2009 1st Individual Tournament of Nimes 2009 1st Team World Cup stage 4 – Boe 2008 6th Individual World Indoor Championships – Izmir 2007
For more results/information on Pierre-Julien DELOCHE and all the other athletes, please refer to the World Archery website.
World Archery Communication
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