What if a Côte-d’Orienne became world shooting champion? In any case, we hope so. Christelle Girard, 52, enters this Friday, November 11 in the competition in the United Arab Emirates. She practices rifle shooting at 10 meters, with the particularity of doing it without seeing. Christine is severely visually impaired, its disabled sport practice is therefore adapted. The member of the Dijon Knights has been part of the French team for more than a year and a half. She holds the French record in her discipline, just that.
A suitable practice
Before shooting, there is a whole ceremony with a sacred installation. A suitable table is placed, and Christelle puts headphones on her ears. Christelle Girard is a visually impaired person, so she uses an electronic telescope placed on his rifle. Concretely, at the bottom of the target, there is a diode which sends a signal back to his telescope, this signal is transformed into sound, which allows him to realize, by ear, his placement vis-à-vis of the target.
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It is also very rare for Christelle’s shots to fall wide. Yet she shoots only for three years. And besides, it’s kind of funny how it all started. “My my son loves to shoot at the fair, he had two pellets left, says the champion. My husband and my son said to each other “Oh well, we’re going to get you shot”. I wondered how I was going to be able to do it. They told me “we will tell you TOP when you are in front of the balloons”. So I fired and it really clicked. The click for once.” A tilt that takes him directly to the world championships in the United Arab Emirates.
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Assistants turned friends
Christelle is never alone when she shoots. She is accompanied by his two assistants, Maurice Mastier and Laurent Boudriot. They are pillars for the champion. During the shots, one or the other stands behind her back and touches certain parts of her back or arm to communicate with her, verbal interactions being prohibited in competition. These indications allow Christelle to be guided and to correct her trajectory.
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The two assistants sensed the potential of Christelle Girard from the start. “She came, initially as a recreational shooter within an associationremembers Maurice Mastier. Like us, we are curious, we saw that it worked, we approached her. It started like this. As we say vulgarly, the mayonnaise took. We understood that he was someone who was pugnacious. We said to ourselves, if she wants to work, well, we will work.“
© Radio France
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Dimitri Morgado
Laurent Boudriot, him, did not imagine such a course. “At the start, it was a simple qualification for a French championship. Just that, he explains. It’s gone completely out of control, we’re at the world championships! We had an osmosis between Maurice, Christelle and me, something that worked, that immediately agreed. But that can’t be explained, that’s how it is.“
Useful information
To follow the competition of Christelle Girard in the United Arab Emirates, just go to the website of these world championships
. Departure at 6 am, French time.