Romsey’s Patrick French was brave in defeat in his first Paralympics.
Representing Australia in para-archery, French faced Indonesia’s Ken Swagumilang in the 1-16 elimination round on Saturday morning, Australian time.
Swagumilang came into the match ranked 12th after the ranking round, with French in 21st.
In a closely contested match in gruelling conditions, which included torrential rain, French narrowly missed advancing, falling short 140-138.
French expressed satisfaction with his performance despite the narrow loss.
“I’m really happy with how I went, my shots were good,” he said to Paralympic Australia media.
“It was a close match, and a close match is always a good match. I’m happy to lose to Ken, someone I shoot with a lot on the international circuit.
“I’m pleased with how my shots went, the majority landed in the middle.”
French also emphasised the importance of supporting his teammates as they continue their campaign, with several making it through to the next round.
“We’re all in this together, they need support behind them and that will be my focus” he said.
“There’s no better place to get this experience – it’s the only place like it in the world, you can’t emulate it.”
Speaking before the Games, French told Star Weekly he could have never imagined making the Paralympics after a workplace accident in 2015 that left him paralysed from waist down and with an acquired brain injury.
“I’m not amazed that much,” he said. “When something happens like that you can sit around and be miserable or try and enjoy your life despite it.
“I got a bow and I thought I would try my luck with hunting. I never did that, I got the bow and got into target archery and it became full on.”
