Onore al grande Michele

Italy’s Michele FRANGILLI has won almost every possible title in target, indoor and field archery, and recently shot the winning arrow for the team gold medal at the London Olympic Games.

M
ichele FRANGILLI was introduced to archery by his parents as a young child. Treating the sport as a game at first, Michele kept on shooting and became one of the greatest champions of his generation. Thirty years after his debut, the archer from Gallarate is still coached by his father Vittorio, and has won almost every title he can across target, indoor and field archery.

FRANGILLI has achieved the individual and team titles of World Champion at indoor and target events, and has clinched individual and team victories at World Cup stages. He has surpassed numerous world records and still holds to this day two indoor records dating from 2001!

Michele FRANGILLI has also made his mark on archery’s Olympic history. After winning the Olympic team bronze at Atlanta 1996 and the silver at Sydney 2000, Italy’s FRANGILLI scored a 10 on the last arrow of the team final at London 2012 to dramatically win the Olympic gold medal, a first for Italy in this event.

Almost a year after his most astonishing accomplishment, the former World Ranked number one archer is still striving for success in the sport. We caught up with him in Shanghai, where he is competing at the first stage of the World Cup this week.

Please tell us how you approached the team final at the London Olympic Games, after winning the bronze at Atlanta 1996 and the silver at Sydney 2000?

I entered the field without thinking that we could finish on the podium. At the beginning, we were not quite shooting at the top of our game, but then match after match we realised that we could achieve something. In the gold medal match against the United States, we had confidence in our chances, and everything was decided on the final arrow. It was a good match and a great experience. Also I completed my collection of Olympic team medals: bronze, silver and finally gold in a time span of sixteen years!

How did you manage your mental game during the team final at the London Olympic Games and especially the final arrow? What was going through your mind?

I was very calm at the start of the match. I tried to shoot my best and it worked until the last arrow. I like to check on the progress of the matches and watch what others do. Before the final arrow, I knew everything, I heard the noise in the audience. I was aware that I needed a 10 to win the gold medal. I took almost 30 seconds to shoot the last arrow; I was really quiet and I was mostly focused on not making a mistake.

Has this gold medal changed you in any way?

No, not at all, I am still the same guy. In my country and my hometown, everybody knows me and knows what I do. For everything else, nothing has changed. I still train like before. Almost one year has passed, and despite the win my level of confidence and my struggles are still the same as they were.

After a long career and winning almost every possible title, what keeps you going?

Archery is my job. I am of the Carabinieri as a fulltime archer. It’s my job to continue to win medals for Italy.

How do you explain your excellent results across target, indoor and field archery?

I think it’s to do with the fact that I have been shooting for a long time – I started shooting archery at 5 years old and competing at age 10 – and my personal shooting technique has remained consistent since a very long time ago. Together, these factors have allowed me to win all the medals that I’ve won.

You are famous for your “heretic” shooting technique.

My technique comes from the work of my father, who has studied many shooting techniques since his beginning in the sport. I adopted his technique and modified it slightly, and my way of shooting has not changed since 1994 (Video).
This technique requires a lot of strength but not a very significant number of arrows in training. And it has proven successful in the long term! At the time of the Atlanta Games, I shot up to 150 arrows a day, and now about 100. I do my physical preparation especially in winter. Even if I don’t shoot a lot of arrows, I shoot every day, because the most difficult thing is to start again after a break. This is why I only took 2-3 weeks of holidays after the London Games. Then I started shooting again very slowly, about 300 arrows per month.
My technique is difficult to learn and practice, hence it is not imitated much and is not considered "normal" by archery specialists. But what counts is to reproduce an identical shooting sequence every time and to score 10s!
You can find more information about my shooting technique and my life as an athlete in my book "The Heretic Archer"  co-written with my father and available in English, French, German, Italian and Japanese. This book is aimed at high level archers seeking to improve their results.

1st	Team	Olympic Games – London	2012
3rd	Team	World Championships – Turin	2011
6th	Individual	World Cup Final – Edinburgh	2010
2nd	Team	World Indoor Championships – Rzeszow	2009
4th	Individual	World Cup Final – Dubai	2007
1st	Individual	World Cup stage 2 – Varese	2007
1st	Team	World Indoor Championships – Izmir	2007
2nd	Team	World Indoor Championships – Aalborg	2005
1st	Individual	World Games - Duisburg	2005
7th	Team	Olympic Games – Athens	2004
1st	Individual	World Championships – New York	2003
3rd	Team	World Indoor Championships – Nimes	2003
2nd	Individual	World Indoor Championships – Nimes	2003
1st	Individual	European Championships – Oulu	2002
1st	Individual	Field World Championships – Canberra	2002
2nd	Team	World Championships – Beijing	2001
3rd	Team	World Indoor Championships – Florence	2001
1st	Individual	World Indoor Championships – Florence	2001
2nd	Team	Olympic Games – Sydney	2000
9th	Individual	Olympic Games – Sydney	2000
1st	Team	World Championships – Riom	1999
2nd	Team	World Indoor Championships – Havana	1999
6th	Individual	Olympic Games – Atlanta	1996
3rd	Team	Olympic Games – Atlanta	1996
2nd	Team	World Championships – Jakarta	1995

 Thanks By B.D.M.