The three shooters who had dueled until the last shot of the Rio 2016 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women final met again at the ISSF World Cup Final in Bologna, today.
Competing in the last international event of the year, Rio 2016 Silver medalist Zhang Binbin of the People’s Republic of China beat the Olympic Champion Barbara Engleder of Germany.
The two athletes fought neck and neck, divided just by a few tenths of a point throughout the whole Standing fraction of the match.
Thanks to a perfect 10.9 on her penultimate shot, Zhang finally moved in the lead, securing the brightest medal and the 2016 world cup title with a total score of 460.2 points.
Engleder was left in second place, just two tenths of a point behind Zhang, with 460.0 points.
The second Chinese finalist, Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Du Li, joined them on the third step of Bologna’s podium, with an overall score of 448.9 points.
Right after the medal ceremony, Engleder confirmed what she had already announced in Rio de Janeiro, two months ago: this World Cup Final was her last international match.
“My three-year old boy needs me at home. I thought about quitting already after London 2012, but my husband convinced me to continue for another cycle. Now that I am the Olympic Champion, I feel it’s the right moment to leave.” The 34-year old shooter said. Competing in rifle events since 1994, four-time Olympian Engleder had already won a world cup title in 2011, and collected an impressive number of 14 world cup stage medals throughout her career.
“I will keep on shooting air rifle for my club in the German Bundes Liga for a little while, but I am ready to move on and leave the international competitions behind me. It has been a wonderful experience. I will miss all this.”