Marlyse Hourtou (Chad)

With the women’s final day imminent, An San, the number one seed, looked relieved to have got through her two matches. Her first, against Marlyse Hourtou of Chad, got everyone wondering just a little.

One of just three athletes in Tokyo from the country, and an archer who had received a universality invitation, Hourtou may have qualified last (apparently after suffering an equipment failure) but the training she had received as a resident at the World Archery Excellence Centre hadn’t gone to waste. The Chad archer opened with a 28 and took the first set, as what clearly looked like fear spread across An’s face.

The match eventually went the way it was expected to go, though Hourtou’s subsequent ends of 23, 26 and 22 were better than many that had gone in over the past few days, and belied her unfortunate qualification result. Marlyse shot with a poise and composure above her world ranking, and two points were more than several much more experienced archers took off An San that week.

If she could have qualified a little higher, you get the feeling Marlyse

Hourtou could have taken a scalp or two. Afterwards, she paid tribute to her coaches and stated clearly: “From today, I am preparing for the Paris Olympics. Today, until 2024. I’m ready for it, I’m preparing right now.” A version of this article previously appeared on the World Archery website