Victor Lindgren was the biggest fanboy on the range as he watched his heroes take their shots during the 2023 ISSF World Shooting Championships in Baku.
“I had more focus on Serhiy Kulish than on myself,” said Lindgren, who has admitted to watching every ISSF World Championships on YouTube since 2011.
Yet the self-proclaimed “big shooting nerd” would surprise the world when he claimed the men’s 10m air rifle gold medal on his debut. The kid who was too shy to speak to some of his idols just days before, was now the man to beat.
“I didn’t think much to shoot good or get to the finals,” said the now-21-year-old.
“I was just going there to get some experience and compete with the guys that are better than me and be their next competition.
“It just so happened I qualified for finals and I actually really liked the finals and the pressure and nerves.
“I thought to just go full ahead and see how far it will take – it took me to a gold and a quota place.”
The Swede attributes this to his self-confidence, but this must not be misunderstood as arrogance. In fact, Lindgren’s sincerity shines through in his interactions. He plays down his infamous victory by saying “there is 20 other guys that could win”.
“It’s just up to the day who has the best day on those big competitions,” he added.
“I think that's a good reason to be a junior to go compete to senior levels because the seniors don't want to get beat by a junior, but if a junior is so good that he can compete with the seniors, they should try it just to see how good he is.
“If it takes him to a final or anything, he should just be happy with his performance because it's not easy to compete with the seniors because everyone has a lot of experience or a lot of World Cup medals or World Championships medals, European Championships medals, everything.”
Prior to competing in Baku, the Swede had just a few senior competitions under his belt – two top 20 finishes on the ISSF Grand Prix circuit, before a warm-up ISSF World Cup debut where he placed 65th in Baku.
There were moments where the young star was starstruck, seeing some of his favourite athletes in person for the first time. He would tag along with his older teammate Marcus Madsen in a bid to be introduced.
“Marcus has been a senior for a long time so I just walked beside him and he talked to someone and I just stood there,” laughed Lindgren.
“I was like a little kid in those first competitions because everyone was a senior and I was a middle junior.”
It opened a new world of interacting with the older athletes and having the opportunity to study their technique after years of passing seniors who were ready for their sessions at the training centre just as he was wrapping up his.
“I really wanted to be a senior quick just so I could see and learn more,” he added.
Training improved and he was able to afford a new rifle through sponsorship, furthering bolstering his confidence with equipment that was no longer seven years old.
“I had the right equipment, with the clothes and rifles and the pellets,” Lindgren said.
“So if you have that you can just trust the equipment 100% and then just do your work.
“You have to fully trust your equipment, that's the biggest key as well.”
And just three months after his understated ISSF World Cup debut, he was on top of the shooting sport world.
“I just started to think that if I have my day I could have a chance to go those finals, that’s the mindset I have right now,” he added.
“When I have my very good days I know I could make the finals or be top ranked, but everyone is shooting very good because everyone had training for Paris.”
As the reigning world champion, Lindgren was no longer the plucky kid looking for a respectable finish – he was the one to watch at Chateauroux as he looked to continue his fine form at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
In his preferred event, he claim the silver medal behind another up-and-coming prodigy, the 19-year-old Sheng Lihao from China.
“Sheng is out of this world,” said Lindgren.
“He's a very good shooter, he does everything good.
“One month before the Paris, he got a world record in the final and the year before he got a world record in qualification.
“Everyone knows he's a very good shooter and he's young and talented.
“I just think it's a new generation that is starting to come to ISSF.
“It feels like now I'm one of the top guys if you can say that.”
His theory behind this stems from retiring athletes after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games becoming more involved in coaching, supporting juniors on their pathway to senior competition and cites Madsen as influential to his success.
“If I look back to 2022 or 2021, I didn't think it would happen this fast with the World Championship or Olympic medal,” said Lindgren.
“Marcus has a lot of experience.
“He talked to me and helped me with the training and now he has helped me when we are out on competition as well.”
Sheng and Lindgren no longer need introduction and the Swede feels part of “one big family” since emerging on the international circuit. Madsen has been a mentor to him and he has become friends with the Norwegian team – a traditional custom in the Swedish national team – as well as Hungary’s Istvan Peni, who he once fawned over, but can now consider him a close confidant. He is not short of allies on the circuit, testament to his amiable personality.
Importantly in 2025, Lindgren will officially graduate from the junior ranks, having split his time between both circuits. He signed off at the ISSF Junior World Shooting Championships with fourth in the men’s 10m air rifle and 50m rifle prone finals, and a silver medal in the 50m rifle 3 positions final.
A dramatic contest saw the Swede expecting to settle for bronze before his friend, Norway’s Jens Olsrud Oestli, made an error and Lindgren shot near-perfect to take the lead. Despite a 10.4 on his last shot, a score of 10.7 from Braden Wayne Peiser saw the American take the lead again by 0.1 points.
“The last shot in standing, it's the hardest shot in a final,” said Lindgren.
“I saw my shot was 10.4 and thought I was safe.
“Then Braden shot, I looked on the scoreboard and he was 0.1 ahead – it was fun actually because it was a very strong final.
“I didn’t get angry or that [when I won silver] because it was my first big final in smallbore where I really did a great job.”
Now that he leaves the junior ranks, he is aware some athletes will be looking up to him like he once did to those before him. The youngster, who meticulously studied his heroes as he grew up now feels a sense of responsibility to provide that advice to support to those following him too.
“If you're a good junior but you cannot make it to the senior team in your country, you should not quit,” added Lindgren.
“I think it's important just to keep the head straight and up, to just continue shooting and just not give up and not think you're bad or anything because they are good shooters - they are older than you.
“If you’re not in the team in one year or two years, maybe the third year is the time you shine and then you can start to shoot good and go to the team and get some experience on all the other competition sites.”
Maybe one day a seasoned Lindgren will shake hands with a nervous rookie, who has been watching his career on YouTube too.