Heidi Diethelm Gerber of Switzerland pocketed the 25m Pistol Women Gold medal, while competing in the first leg of this year's ISSF World Cup Series, in Fort Benning, GA, USA.
The 45-year old athlete, who only started competing in 2008, outdid 8 to 4 points the 1988 Olympic Champion and three-time Olympic medallist Nino Salukvadze of Georgia in the Gold medal match. The Swiss shooter had climbed up the scoreboard during the semifinal, finishing atop of the board with 18 hits.
Diethelm Gerber had never won an ISSF Gold medal, before. The Swiss shooter triumphed twice at European level, winning the 2011 and the 2013 European Championship, and she pocketed a world cup Bronze in Munich, last year.
"I just started shooting a few years ago, so it’s great to wear this Gold meal!" Diethelm Gerber said.
"During the final, it was warmer than in the morning, I was feeling good, and I knew what I had to do. But the final is anyway something special: you need to shoot a 10.2 to get a 'hit'. That adds pressure: there's a thrilling moment when you look at your monitor and you find out your result."
"The qualifications are the hardest part of the competition. You need to get into the final, no matter what, that's the most important thing. When you're in, it starts again from zero. Then, in the medal match, the competiton turns into a duel, but that's easy for me." Heidi concluded.
Todays's Bronze medal went to the 26-year old Chinese shooter Zhang Jingjing, the 2013 ISSF World Cup Final winner, who outscored Antoaneta Boneva of Bulgaria 7 to 1 points. A bitter finish in this world cup stage for Boneva, who had won the 10m Air Pistol Women match on the first competition day, here in Fort Benning.