Flute prepares for home Games, 31 years after his Olympic title

Former Olympic Champion Sébastien Flute is beginning to feel the excitement.

Qualification for the Games of Paris 2024 launched at the Hyundai Archery World Championships in Berlin, almost exactly 31 years after he won his own Olympic title.

“It’s still with just as much interest, and a touch of envy too, that I see the process starting up again, which will open the door to the Games wide for the athletes,” he says.

The event in the German capital runs from 31 July to 6 August 2023.

The Frenchman won the individual gold medal at Barcelona 1992 on 3 August.

The next recurve women’s Olympic champion will also be crowned on the same date in exactly a year’s time in the French capital, at the historic Invalides. The men’s gold medal is scheduled for the following day to conclude the archery competitions at Paris 2024.

“Every arrow they shoot will bring [the athletes] closer to their Olympic dream,” says Flute.

The 51-year-old has been a permanent figure, in one way or another, at every Olympic cycle since winning in his debut in 1992.

After the disappointment of losing in the first round as the defending champion at Atlanta 1996, he reached the quarterfinals at Sydney 2000. Retired from international competition, he acted as a consultant for French television during the Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Games (after a brief comeback attempt), and supported his home team at Rio 2016.

Fliute was as World Archery’s delegate at Tokyo 2020, offering guidance in the lead-up and during a challenging event delayed by the pandemic.

Now, for the home Games of a lifetime, Flute is serving as the sports manager for archery and the venue manager for Invalides, having joined the organising committee in February 2022.

“The 2024 edition of the Games has a very special flavour for me because, over and above the fact that they will be held in France, I am involved in their preparation on a daily basis,” he says.

“The aim is to create the showcase for the archers’ performances in the heart of the city, at the Esplanade des Invalides.”

In Paris, Flute’s Olympic journey completes a full circle.

The archery competitions at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will begin with qualifying rounds on 25 July 2024, one day before the opening ceremony.