Switzerland’s world No.2 Chiara Leone won the Paris 2024 50m rifle 3 positions women title after a fluctuating contest at Chateauroux today in an Olympic record of 464.4 points.
Silver on 463.0 - the first Paris 2024 shooting medal for the United States - went to Sagen Maddalena, who had topped the previous day’s qualification and led the final on two occasions.
China’s 20-year-old world champion Zhang Qiongyue took bronze as Norway’s Jeanette Hegg Duestad, fourth in this event and the 10m air rifle at the Tokyo 2020 Games, had the bittersweet experience of filling that place once more.
Scores of 8.5 and 8.8 from Zhang in the first of the two single-shot elimination rounds gave Duestad a glimpse of bronze as she shot a perfect 10.9 and 10.6 to narrow a gap of 4.5 points to just 0.3, but she could only manage a 9.7 with her next effort and her Chinese rival rallied to a 10.1 to claim third place by a margin of 0.7.
Leone had led with 156.2 after the opening kneeling section, with Zhang on 156.0 and Maddalena on 155.9.
But the 26-year-old Swiss athlete dropped to third after the prone section, her total of 313.1 being bettered by Zhang on 313.3 and Maddalena on 314.0.
Zhang took the initiative after the two opening series of five shots in the standing section, totalling 415.8 as the competition moved to the single-shot eliminations, with Leone on 414.4 and Maddalena dropping down to fourth place on 412.9 as Austria's Nadine Ungerank moved into third place with 413.2..
The opening round of single shots tipped the contest Leone’s way as she took the lead by 0.3 as she moved to 424.6 with an effort of 10.2. An 8.5 dropped Zhang to second place on 424.3.
One round later, however, Ungerank departed in fifth place after successive efforts of 9.9 and 9.0, with Duestad moving past her to fourth and Maddalena rising to third.
But one set of shots later an 8.8 had dropped the Swiss athlete to second place on 433.4 as Maddalena’s 10.8 moved her into the lead by 0.2.
The lead flipped for the final time in the next round as Leone’s 10.5 took her to 443.9 and Maddalena dropped to third place 443.0 with a 9.4 as Zhang totalled 443.2 following her 10.1.
In the penultimate round Leone maintained her lead with a 9.7 as her two remaining rivals tied on 452.9, with Zhang, who had finished second behind Maddalena in qualification, having to settle for bronze.
Leone had a lead of 0.7 as she and her American rival prepared for their final scheduled shots. A 10.1 took Maddalena’s final total to 463.0 as her Swiss opponent finished on a high with a 10.8 that secured gold and took her past the Olympic record of 463.9 set three years ago at the Tokyo 2020 Games by her compatriot Nina Christen, who had failed to earn qualification on the day before.
“It’s just amazing,” Leone said after earning Switzerland’s first gold at the Paris 2024 Games. “I don’t know what happened on the last shot but I somehow managed to be almost in the centre. It was perfect, and I’m really, really happy right now.”
Asked about the way the lead switched around during the final she responded: “In the end, it doesn’t matter. I won. It doesn’t really matter, it’s just the best. It’s amazing.
“I mean, I knew I could win. I wanted a medal. I wanted a piece of the Eiffel Tower in my hands, and winning is just... I can’t describe how I feel.
“We will have a big party tonight. I don’t know when or where but we will celebrate.”
Reflecting on the way she recovered her position after a poor start to her standing phase in which she dropped from first to fourth place, Maddalena commented: “I was able to climb back up the ladder, and I am happy with that.”
“I’ll ponder it for a bit. It was my mistake. You’ve got to get back up after you fall, and keep making good shots. There were mistakes but they were on me.
“I assessed the mistake. My (setting) was a little off, and I adjusted it and had to make good shots even though my heart was pumping. I was happy I was able to do that.”
Asked whether she would try to go one better at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, she added: “Yep, that’s the goal.”
Switzerland were spoilt for choice in this event as 15-year-old Emely Jaeggi had earned an Olympic Quota place – and also taken European bronze and established a qualifying world record of 596, also a world junior record, at the Munich World Cup. Had she been selected she would have become the youngest ever Olympic shooting sport competitor.
The defending champion’s failure to qualify was replicated by the respective world No.1 and No.2, Seonaid McIntosh of Great Britain and Anna Janssen of Germany, and India’s world record holder and Asian Games champion Sift Kaur Samra had also failed to make the cut.
Fifth place in the final went to Austria’s Nadine Ungerank, with Poland’s Natalia Kochanska finishing sixth.
Denmark’s Stephanie Grundsoee was the first to depart, followed by Yesugen Oyunbat of Mongolia.