25M PISTOL WOMEN
In what has been an extraordinary year for this event the destination of Olympic medals in Paris will be strongly contested by Republic of Korea team-mates Kim Yeji (pictured centre) and Yan Jiin (pictured left), both of whom have broken the world record this season, world champion Doreen Vennekamp of Germany and in-form home athlete Camille Jedrzejewski.
Yang, 21, set a world record of 41 at the Asian Championships and Olympic Qualifying event in Jakarta on January 11, overtaking the mark of 40 set in 2019 by Hungary’s Veronika Major and equalled last year by Vennekamp in winning her first world title.
At the Baku World Cup, where the 25m pistol was among the events where two finals were staged, Yang won the first with another score of 41. But her mark remained as a world junior record only after the second final as Kim, 31, won gold with 42.
Vennekamp, 29, the ISSF Female Athlete of the Year for 2023, may no longer have a share of the world record but she goes into Paris as world No.1 after a season in which she has won World Cup gold in Cairo, World Cup silver in Munich and silver also in the European Championships.
In both those last two competitions, however, gold went to her training partner Jedrzejewski. The latter appears to be hitting top form at the perfect moment for the home Games, which she goes into world-ranked third, with Yang one place above her and Kim one place below.
Throw into this mix two young, hugely talented Indian athletes - Manu Bhaker and Esha Singh - and the scene is set for one of the most competitive events at the Paris 2024 Games.
Bhaker, 22, won the Youth Olympic title in Buenos Aires in 2018 and the world junior 10m air rifle title three years later and she is the only Indian athlete named for Paris 2024 in more than one individual category as she goes in the 10m air pistol with Rhythm Sangwan.
Singh, 19, who won two team gold medals at the ISSF World Championships, earned an Olympic quota place in winning 10m air pistol gold at the Asian Championships in Jakarta. She announced her talent in the sport by becoming the youngest ever winner in the women’s national 10m air pistol event at the age of 13.
China meanwhile will field 20-year-old Zhao Nan, who took silver at the World Cup Final in Doha, and 17-year-old Liang Xiaoya, who will be the youngest team member.
And there are other strong contenders for the 2024 podium. Vennekamp’s team-mate Josefin Eder, 28, (pictured right) is now world-ranked fifth after a highly successful finale to her season.
She earned a breakthrough victory at the Final Olympic qualifier in Rio de Janeiro, with Jedrzejewski taking silver and Major bronze, and followed up by taking bronze in the first of the Baku finals behind Yang and China’s Zhao Nan, a record which leaves her world-ranked fifth.
One place below Eder in the rankings is Greece’s much bemedalled Anna Korakaki.
Korakaki, 28, won the world title in 2018 and took Olympic gold at the Rio 2016 Games, where she also earned 10m air pistol bronze. She finished sixth in both events at the Tokyo 2020, but her form this season – including 25m pistol silver and 10m air pistol gold at the Cairo World Cup - indicates she is ready to step back onto the podium in Paris.
Major also remains a medal threat, as does Ukraine’s 39-year-old world silver medallist Olena Kostevych, who won 25m pistol bronze and 10m air pistol gold at the Athens 2004 Games, and Iran’s Haniyeh Rostamiyan, world-ranked nine ahead of Austria’s 42-year-old Sylvia Steiner.
Asia Olympic Qualification/Champs Rifle/Pistol – Jakarta Jan
Yang Jiin (KOR), Kim Yeji (KOR) Rhythm Sangwan (IND)
ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun Cairo Jan-Feb
Doreen Vennekamp (GER), Anna Korakaki (GRE), Veronika Major (HUN)
Olympic Qualification CAT XIV Rifle/Pistol Buenos Aires March-April
Andrea Perez Pena (ECU), Laina Perez (CUB), Manna Alves (BRZ)
ISSF Final Olympic Qualification Championship Rifle/Pistol Rio de Janeiro April
Josefin Eder (GER), Camille Jedrzejewski (FRA), Veronika Major (HUN)
ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun Baku May
(double finals in rifle and pistol following sole 10m competition at Granada WC)
First 25m pistol women Yang Jiin (KOR), Zhao Nan (CHN), Josefin Eder (GER)
Second 25m pistol women Kim Yeji (KOR), Yang Jiin (KOR), Josefin Eder (GER)
European Championships 25m – 50m Rifle/Pistol Osijek May
Camille Jedrzejewski (FRA), Doreen Vennekamp (GER), Aliaksandra Piaatrova (AIN)
ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol Munich May-June
Camille Jedrzejewski (FRA), Doreen Vennekamp (GER), Kim Yeji (KOR)