Cuba's Leuris Pupo finished second in the first qualifying round of the 25-meter rapid fire pistol during the Rio de Janeiro 2024 Olympic Rifle and Pistol Final Qualifying Championship in Brazil.
Havana, April 18 (JIT) - Cuba's Leuris Pupo finished second in the first qualifying round of the 25-meter rapid fire pistol during the Rio de Janeiro 2024 Olympic Rifle and Pistol Final Qualifying Championship in Brazil.
Pupo, Olympic champion in London-2012 and runner-up in Tokyo-2020, scored 293 points in his first outing at the Military Shooting Sport Center, surpassed only by Czech Matej Rampula, who scored 295. In third place in the round was Frenchman Clement Bessaguet (291).
The group of gunslingers will return to action this Thursday to complete the second qualifying round scheduled in the calendar.
According to the Championship website, the final of the event is scheduled for Friday, when medals will also be awarded in the rifle three positions at 50 meters for men and women, to close the tournament.
To date, the competition has seen seven finals in five individual events and two mixed events. The gold medal in the women's 10-meter air pistol went to Elmira Karapetyan of Armenia, followed on the podium by Thailand's Kamonlak Saencha and India's Palak Palak.
The men's event was dominated by Italy's Federico Nilo Maldini, seconded by Uladzislau Dzemesh, who competes with a neutral flag, and Germany's Philipp Grimm.
The 10-meter air rifle also brought presences in both genders. The top of the women's podium was occupied by France's Oceanne Müeller, second place went to her teammate Manon Herbulot and third to Norway's Synnoeve Berg. The men's medalists were completed by Lazar Kovacevic of Serbia, Jon-Hermann Hegg of Norway and Edoardo Bonazzi of Italy, in that order.
The winner in the women's 25-meter pistol was Josefin Eder of Germany. Camille Jedrzejewski, from France, and Veronika Major, from Hungary, escorted her on the awards stand.
Norwegians, French and Swedes, respectively, dominated the 10-meter air rifle mixed event. The combined pistol event at the same distance was led by the Turks, Ukrainians and Japanese.
So far, the French lead the medal tally by country with one title and three subtitles. Norway, with one metal of each color, follows them in the list and Germany, with one gold and one bronze, is in third place.
The competition, attended by 466 athletes from 76 nations, will distribute 16 quotas to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, two in each individual event. It is the last chance for the shooters to get the coveted ticket.
