“The circle is clear”. At this announcement, watch your head, boomerangs will fly above you! Between the noise of the boomerangs whose blades split the air and the howls of joy of the Americans, a family, the Appriou family, competes in the World Championships on the dry grass of the Château de Moulerens, in Gradignan (Gironde).
Mother and daughters in the field, father at the microphone to comment and explain to novices what is happening before our eyes. Such is the configuration of this family from Cestas, in the Bordeaux suburbs. At home, Marie Appriou, the reigning world champion, intends to preserve it. This 24-year-old dark-haired young woman is sure of herself, speaks with conviction and manages to transmit her passion without worries.
Read also: Roller derby: Get in shape!
However, all was not rosy at the start. A sport unknown to the general public, the boomerang suffers from the many clichés conveyed by films like Mad Max or Le Dîner de Cons. Marie Appriou was the victim of bullying during her college years. “It was hard for me. It was very difficult in college because I talked about it easily. I got bullied for that. Violently. It has gone very far”. But the young Frenchwoman did not give up and won her second straight title of women’s boomerang world champion on Thursday August 25, 2022. PE teacher in college, she wants to introduce her students to the boomerang. “It’s a little revenge. That’s exactly why I wanted to be a middle school teacher.
Read also: When sport rhymes with fun
This love of the boomerang, she has had it since the age of five. “I took part in my first World Cup when I was 10 years old, she tells us proudly, and this is my sixth participation”. A real passion, transmitted by his father. Very young, Michel Appriou was fascinated by flying objects and manufactured rockets, gliders and other planes. It was when he wanted to repair his little brother’s boomerang, which he had broken while trying to go around the rugby post, that Michel Appriou fell into it. “I tried to throw it but it wouldn’t fly. I was disappointed and went to bed with the idea that I had to find the solution. And during the night, I found her. I started to profile the boomerang in the direction of flight and I made my first attempt: it flew. And since then I have never stopped. With Marie as with Michel, the same satisfaction: the object they throw comes back to them in their hands.
Boomerangs of all colors but with a carefully worked shape for a return flight.
© Pascal de Portbail
If this sport is practiced by amateurs – for lack of international recognition – the world championships remain a very serious event. Of all nationalities (Brazil, United States, India, Indonesia, Australia…), these enthusiasts come from the end of the world to compete with others. And always in a spirit of fair play and sharing. As Marie points out, these are the two values of the boomerang. “On a field, we do all the roles, we are judge, coach, thrower, we help when there is one who passes on the circle for the wind, to tell him more to the right, more to the left”. And we see it. During the multiple events, good humor and discussions are going well. But when a thrower gets ready and throws his boomerang, great silence, everyone respects him.
Marie Appriou and her father, Michel.
© Jean de Teyssiere.
How is a global boomerang competition going? The first part of the championships takes place as a team. Then, it is the individual events that count. On the menu: precision, tricks, speed and concentration. Alternately, throwers must throw their boomerang 5 times in a row as quickly as possible. He must go at least 20 meters, the record is 16 seconds. Another test consists of throwing one then two boomerangs at the same time and catching them in a different way each time, with the feet, behind the back, between the legs… No test is alike and each thrower has their favorite test. Under 35°C, no shadow zone, the launchers are in direct sunlight for 3 hours, almost non-stop. But no weather condition scares these enthusiasts, having, for some, crossed the planet for this event.