Thomas Chirault became the first French archer to ever shoot 690-points-plus in qualifying this morning when he secured top seed at the European Championships with a career competition-best 692 in Essen.
Katharina Bauer, Mike Schloesser and Andrea Muñoz also qualified top.
The recurve men’s round was a three-way tussle between Chirault, 17-year-old teammate Baptiste Addis and reigning Olympic and World Archery Champion Mete Gazoz. It was the French leader’s back half, a 348/360, that saw him surge to the front.
“I shot really good. But we win medals in matches and I am focused on my matches,” said Chirault.
“We’ve practised so hard for this year. We want to win the gold [at the Olympics] in Paris so we have to win some competitions before to be prepared. This European Championships is a good competition to win to get that experience.”