Published on 01 Aug 2024

Shooting Sport at the Olympics: Dumoulin’s route to Sydney 2000 – from a wheelchair to gold with the help of the Eiffel Tower

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Shooting sport was one of the nine events at the first modern Olympics at Athens in 1896, and has featured in every subsequent summer Games save for the 1904 and 1928 editions. Women began competing at the 1968 Mexico Games. Men’s and women’s events were separated from 1984 onwards in rifle and pistol, for double trap from 1996 and for trap and skeet from 2000. The sport will make its 28th Olympic appearance at this summer’s Paris 2024 Games. The ISSF website is highlighting and celebrating this unique range of sporting achievements…

Franck Dumoulin’s preparations for the Sydney 2000 Olympics 10m air pistol men went somewhat awry the year before when he mistakenly shot himself in the left hand.

Seemingly dissatisfied with this temporary handicap he swiftly compounded it by shattering his leg and breaking an arm in a motorbike accident.

With less than a year to go until the Games began he found himself in a wheelchair.

But he was able to recover sufficiently to compete in Australia and reached the final, where his opponents included the gold, silver and bronze medallists from the Atlanta 1996 Games – respectively Roberto Di Donna of Italy, Wang Yifu of China and Tanyu Kiriakov of Bulgaria.

Dumoulin and Wang entered the final tied having jointly raised the Olympic record by three points to 590. But the Frenchman faltered to an 8.5 with his first shot and fell behind.

Wang remained in the lead after his fourth shot, but in the fifth round Dumoulin outscored his Chinese rival 10.3 to 8.9 and established a lead which he held onto for the rest of the competition. He set an Olympic record of 688.9, finishing three points clear.

Dumoulin was introduced to shooting sport in 1984 when, as an 11-year-old, he received a pellet gun from his father during school holidays. He started practising and soon had to write a school report about his holiday activities. His teacher, who was also a shooter, encouraged him to join a shooting club.

 Dumoulin believes that shooting is not just about technique but also about mental strength and concentration. His philosophy is encapsulated in his motto: "There are no problems. Only solutions."

 He also developed a unique mental ritual during competition – in order to create a sense of solidity and stability he would visualise the Eiffel Tower. He would also align his shots by imagining a red laser on the target.