Quarter-finalist in mixed doubles with Jean-Charles Valladont on the first day of the Olympics, Lisa Barbelin begins her individual tournament this Tuesday.
These Olympics will be a good experience for the young archer of 21 years, only appeared in recent months in the world landscape.
An early arrival at the very high level helped by his passion for music, which allows him to better manage various important aspects of his sport.
From our special correspondent in Tokyo,
From the family home in Ley, in Moselle, François Barbelin, the father, will not miss a thing. Perhaps, to relieve the stress, he will sit at the piano a few moments before the entry into the running of Lisa, 21, who is competing in the individual archery event of the Tokyo Olympics from this Tuesday. And too bad if it is 2:30 in the morning. The imposing instrument is a central element of the foyer, which even finds its place as far as Japan, where the young archer relies on her years of music to help her through the laps to the final.
Granted, the relationship between a piano and an archery competition 12,000 kilometers away is not clear at first.
It was not for us either before we were interested in the youngest newcomer to the France team, who has been climbing the steps of the world hierarchy four to four in recent months.
To the point of legitimately aspiring to become the first French archer to win an individual Olympic medal, in the wake of her European coronation in Antalya at the beginning of June.
"Archery has a very nice musicality"
Back to our scores. Lisa Barbelin is a true piano enthusiast, which she has been practicing since the age of 10. Originally “to do the same” as her father, a teacher and musician in a group, whom she admits to always looking at with her little girl's eyes. Over the years, she has had to put pedals, keyboard and pegs aside a bit, but her brain has remained deeply imbued with them. This is what gave him the taste for archery, and which served him, then, to excel at it.
“What I liked right away was the sound of the arrow when you shoot, its hiss when it shoots to the target, and the sound of impact.
Archery has a very nice musicality, ”she describes.
Here she is caught up in this discovery, shortly after that of the father's instrument.
Lisa Barbelin will then, naturally, find a way to exploit this field of interest.
It details:
This past helps me, the archer that I am is different thanks to the music.
It plays on dexterity, and also on the fact that if I make a dumpling, it is not serious, it is necessary to continue.
Like when you make a wrong note, the music has to continue, in archery it is very important not to focus on small mistakes.
The volleys are long, we have time to catch up.
"
For her, a volley therefore resembles a score, which should be played at the right rhythm and which should lead to a result, whatever happens during its production.
This notion of tempo is essential.
Here too, music is a precious ally.
“When I returned to the France pole, I played a little music in my head to de-stress me, explains the one who can recognize her training partners only by the sound of their bow.
It is less the case now but it still happens to me, especially since I tend to shoot too fast.
"She adds, laughing:" Like when I was playing the piano, I was always ahead of the metronome!
"
"For her, it is not a problem to be in confrontation in an arena"
Music helps her contain her ardor, while avoiding the opposite trap, namely falling asleep and losing track. “It's not an easy balance to find,” she points out, before revealing her little personal secrets to settle in well. “At the beginning it was more music, then songs, then just words. Now I am fully stuck with my breathing. "
If this aspect is not the only explanation for her meteoric progress, obviously, the coach of the Olympic team Jean-Manuel Tizzoni says he is "convinced" that he is making her a better archer.
“The rhythm is a benchmark when you shoot, you don't have to follow it, but it allows you to know where you are.
This is what speaks to him the most, I think, and also the habit of producing things in front of an audience, he believes.
For her, it is not a problem to be in confrontation in an arena, it is not a problem that it is difficult.
On the contrary, it's more fun.
Right now it's running like this, and it's great for a coach.
I'm lucky to have it.
"
Sport and music course with parents
The technician has nothing but compliments to send to the young woman, "in a stable mood and therefore available for training", "very attentive", "cheerful" and "always positive".
“It's a game for her,” he says.
A game she converted her dad to.
The latter even passed his diplomas to train young people.
"It's great because he asks me for advice, we have changed roles in relation to music and I find that very interesting", appreciates the girl.
The exchange played out in full during confinement.
With her friends from the France team Thomas Chirault (also present at the Olympics) and Mélanie Gaubil, Lisa Barbelin isolated herself in Ley, where her father had set up a target in the garden - large enough to respect the regulatory 70 meters - so they can practice.
The father took the opportunity to blacken some notebooks, the young people to squat the piano from time to time.
“I initiated Mélanie and Thomas, it was a kind of sport and music course,” says Lisa, all smiles.
She herself has fallen back into it a little.
“As soon as I hear my dad playing, it makes me want to be like him, like when I was little.
I want to do things as nicely as he does.
That never went away.
This is sweet music to hear when you're a parent.
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