Piotr Van Montagu
Armless Belgian archer who shoots with his feet, inspired by Matt Stutzman.
Last updated
Piotr Van Montagu (born 16 October 1988) is a Belgian Paralympic archer of Polish descent. He competes in classification ST and, despite having no arms and an impairment to his right leg, has become one of the world's top men's compound shooters. He shoots with his feet, inspired by American archer Matt Stutzman.
Background
Van Montagu was born in Poland into a difficult family situation as a Softenon baby without arms and with a deformed right leg. He was adopted by a Belgian family at age 4. His first athletic passion was wheelchair football, which he practiced for about 13 years at a high level, participating in several World and European Cups and being elected the second-best player in the world in 2011 during the World Cup in Paris.
Fascinated by archery and inspired by fictional characters such as Legolas from 'The Lord of the Rings' film series, he took up the sport in 2016. It took him nearly three years at the archery club Cardinal Mercier in Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium, before he could shoot alone, using his feet in the manner of his idol Matt Stutzman. He is a member of 'the Compagnie des archers du château Gerpinnes ASBL'.
More in Archers of Europe
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Piotr Van Montagu (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced