"Every arrow in a target is a victory": suffering from Parkinson's disease, he wins the Var para archery champion title

"I call her Madame Parkinson," smiles Laurent Masi. This is what he calls Parkinson's disease, which he has suffered from for 23 years. It causes nervous degeneration and tremors of varying severity. However, this hasn't stopped the sixty-year-old from developing a passion... for archery! It all started three years ago, when Laurent Masi settled in Lorgues. He met Thierry Fournier, president of the Les archers lorguais club and now his coach, at a forum for associations. The newcomer to Lorgues then decided to sign up.

"At first, I thought Parkinson's and archery were unlikely," he explains, dressed in his archery gear. A year later, the French Archery Federation (FFTA) took over the "Paralympic part" of the discipline. Thanks to a classification system , it allows for adjustments for people with disabilities, putting aside the issue of distance. This is the case for Laurent Masi, who shoots at the target ten meters away instead of the regulation 18 meters.

"I gradually got into it," he confides. This development has propelled him into official competition since last September. He was crowned Var champion in Sanary at the start of the year. " I participate in competitions to win and get the best score. But above all, I enjoy myself. The goal isn't necessarily to be better than others. That's not my vision of life. "

Sponsored by a company and financially supported by his club, Laurent even participated in the French championship in Richelieu (Indre-et-Loire) in March. He won fifth place in the competition: " It's the culmination of a lot of hard work. I didn't give up. " The five medals hanging in his kitchen are proof of this. And he doesn't intend to stop there. " I'm going to participate in all the necessary competitions to reach the French championship," he announced with a clearly stated objective. "I want to finish on the podium! "

Take a breath of fresh air and continue the fight

He emphasizes the joy he gets from practicing this sport: " It's a pleasure to shoot and meet others. It's a fantastic sport. Every arrow I put in a target is a small victory against the crap (sic)." In reference to Parkinson's disease, which " affects many things like memory, speech or even causes tremors," recalls Laurent Masi. " Over time, you learn to live with it. You either fight or you throw in the towel. For now, the disease is progressing. If it wants to get me, it will get me. But I will fight until the last second! "

Twice a week, he goes to his two-hour training session. "These sessions help me work on my concentration. They force me to coordinate my movements in the correct order while maintaining my focus on the movement. It's a brain exercise ," explains the former head of a decorative products company, now retired.

Collective solidarity

Laurent Masi isn't just a member of the Archers Lorgais; he's also one of the club's disability representatives. " It's a family. There's an extremely friendly atmosphere and a human side between us," he emphasizes. "It allows me to have a social life. The coaches and friends don't make me feel like I have a disability. "

This spirit of solidarity extends even beyond the association. Proof of this is this anecdote, which occurred during a competition in Trans-en-Provence. " My coach, Thierry Fournier, was in charge of cadets. So I was alone, but it was an opposing coach who took over and brought me my arrows ," he recalls. And he concludes on a note of hope: "You can do it just like me. Anything is possible. It's all in the mind."